CenHTRO works to combat child trafficking in four districts in Sierra Leone: Kambia in the Northwest Province and Kailahun, Kenema, and Kono in the Eastern Province. In addition to projects that have successfully increased and improved protection and prevention efforts in Sierra Leone, in 2023 CenHTRO advanced its work to strengthen judicial and law enforcement response in human trafficking. Additionally, Sierra Leone has been a launchpad for a promising regional partnership to address human trafficking.

Learn more about CenHTRO's research and programs in Sierra Leone


PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

STRENGTHENING REGIONAL COLLABORATION TO FIGHT TRAFFICKING

Alongside the Government of Sierra Leone, CenHTRO hosted the Regional Conference of ECOWAS States on Ending Human Trafficking in Freetown in April 2023. The event brought together over 300 ministers and delegates representing West African governments, NGOs, civil society organizations, and anti-trafficking professionals to share their experiences in implementing strategies to combat human trafficking.

ENHANCING ECOWAS RESPONSE TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING

During the regional conference in April 2023, high-level meetings between ECOWAS ministers produced the conference’s key outcome: the drafting and signing of the Freetown Roadmap on Enhancing the Combat of Trafficking in Persons in the ECOWAS Region, which will become part of the next ECOWAS Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons. CenHTRO played an essential role in the document’s development, following substantial engagement with the Sierra Leone Office of the Vice President and the National Anti-Trafficking in Persons Secretariat/ Task Force over more than two years.

 EXPANDING RESEARCH ON CHILD TRAFFICKING

A new baseline report on child trafficking and child labor in Kambia, a northern district in Sierra Leone that borders Guinea, extends CenHTRO’s 2022 research on the topic covering the Eastern Province: Kailahun, Kenema, and Kono districts. Findings demonstrated similar prevalence to our Eastern Province baseline and have been used to expand our programming by WHI in Kambia, involving community leaders, law enforcement, and district officials in prevention, protection, and prosecution efforts.

ANALYZING NEW LEGISLATION

Sierra Leone Think Tank consultant Reuben Lewis developed a policy brief concerning the new Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Act of 2022, which was drafted with considerable input from CenHTRO and was signed into law by President Julius Maada Bio in August 2022. Lewis examined the law’s potential impact and limitations, providing a short, detailed explanation of its implications for future policy and programming efforts.

EXPANDING COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO CHILD TRAFFICKING

CenHTRO worked with WHI to fund the first child trafficking shelter outside Freetown in 2023. At the Self Help and Development Everywhere (SHADE) shelter in Kambia, we provided anti-trafficking capacity building and robust salary support, and also offered regular consulting services to government social workers outside of existing shelters. In addition, CenHTRO supported WHI in continuing their community prevention efforts with anti-trafficking community groups, who received income-generating support to maintain their grassroots child protection work in the future.

INCREASING INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS

CenHTRO worked to establish a UNODC office in Sierra Leone in 2023, whose project director has roots in Sierra Leone’s justice system. UNODC and CenHTRO worked together to hold two consultation workshops with practitioners working at national and local levels to inform a critically needed training resource for law enforcement and judiciary personnel. Bringing together a variety of actors who do not often work closely together proved to be very fruitful, as rural community leaders and Freetown justices alike left with a desire to work together to strengthen survivors’ access to justice.

CREATING ANTI-TRAFFICKING HEROES:

Freetown-based Antobert Consultancy, working closely with CenHTRO Sierra Leone team, gave the first ever training on human trafficking to 66 members of the Parliament of Sierra Leone. This training is part of advocacy efforts to not only raise awareness among Parliamentarians on trafficking issues, but create anti-trafficking champions among members of Parliament and civil and public servants alike. Despite political differences, Parliamentarians from both parties attended at an impressive rate.

TRAINING SIERRA LEONE JOURNALISTS ON

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

CenHTRO partnered with the Journalism Centre on Global Trafficking in 2023 to create an impactful training fellowship for 12 Sierra Leone journalists to increase and improve reporting on human trafficking in the country’s media organizations. Stories from the project covered multiple districts across Sierra Leone and topics included child labor exploitation in mining and agriculture, with many creating community dialogue and impact. The project continues with a new cohort in 2024.