A LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

Human trafficking is a global scourge that clutches millions of people in its grasp. It affects every country, with devastating effects on individuals, families, and communities.

The scope of this issue is clearly dire, but I am not without hope. 

At the University of Georgia’s Center on Human Trafficking Research & Outreach, we rise every day to meet this challenge, encouraged by the mission we have set forth—to reduce human trafficking through research, programs, and policies.

Our 2022 Annual Impact Report abounds with evidence of our efforts to meet our mission through collective efforts with researchers, governments, survivors, community leaders, and non-government actors.

In 2022, we published three baseline reports: on child trafficking and the worst forms of child labor in Sierra Leone; on severe sex trafficking in the gold mining communities of Kédougou, Senegal; and on child trafficking in Guinea.

Governments, community groups, and service-providing agencies have all received this research to help in their own efforts.  With our assistance, victims of human trafficking have received much needed care and services. 

Survivors have been reunited with their families. We’ve also begun to expand our scope by strengthening cross-border institutional collaboration in the West African region, and planning new research and programs on labor trafficking in Malawi and Zambia. 

CenHTRO is making an impact that, I will reiterate, is underpinned by rigorous science. We count ourselves among elite global organizations dedicated to advancing and standardizing human trafficking research. Our projects in six countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, featuring the world’s preeminent prevalence estimation researchers, are improving the science of how we measure and understand human trafficking in its various international contexts.

In Georgia, we’re producing impact as well, from funding projects that will improve outcomes for survivors to training the next generation of researchers and program specialists. Our team members also serve on various local, national, and international boards and committees on human trafficking.

This progress, I must note, is attained only through the principle of collaboration and the spirit of partnership. With that in mind, I must offer deep thanks to our funder, the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. 

We must continue to assemble all sectors of society—from the village to the boardroom—to combat this scourge. This includes you! Your involvement is necessary if we are to end human trafficking. Only by working together can we achieve such a necessary goal. 

Thank you,

Dr. David Okech