Friday, May 10, 2024 at 4:59 p.m.
Rabat – The United States Ambassador to Morocco, Puneet Talwar announced, Friday in Rabat, a grant of $2.5 million for the benefit of United Nations agencies in Morocco to contribute to efforts to combat trafficking human being.
This grant is awarded to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Funded in several stages by the Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking of the Department of State, it aims in particular to strengthen the detection, identification, protection, return and reintegration of victims of human trafficking. people.
Thanks to this grant, UN agencies are supporting the Moroccan government in opening the first reception centers for victims of human trafficking, thus guaranteeing these people’s access to comprehensive and specialized services. This is an important step in the implementation of the National Plan for Combating and Prevention of Human Trafficking 2023-2030 and the National Referral Mechanism for Victims of Human Trafficking.
Speaking during a ceremony organized on this occasion, the American ambassador praised the efforts made by Morocco to proactively identify victims and prevent this type of crime and to hold drug traffickers criminally responsible. ‘Human being.
He expressed his appreciation for “the approval by the Moroccan government and the large-scale dissemination of a practical guide on the identification of victims”, noting that this is “a major step forward” in the fight against human trafficking.
Mr. Talwar also welcomed Morocco’s adoption of the National Plan for Combating and Prevention of Human Trafficking and the National Referral Mechanism for Victims of Human Trafficking, stressing that “the establishment of “a toll-free number for victims also represents an important step towards raising awareness” on this subject.
Morocco and the United States have adhered to the United Nations protocol aimed at preventing, suppressing and punishing trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, he recalled.
For her part, the UN resident coordinator in Rabat, Nathalie Fustier, welcomed the Kingdom’s determination to intensify the fight against human trafficking, reaffirming the commitment of the United Nations to further support Morocco in that Sens.
Morocco put in place, last year, a seven-year plan as well as a national reference mechanism, she recalled, highlighting the “progress” made by the Kingdom in this area.
For his part, the president of the National Commission for the Coordination of Measures to Combat and Prevention Against Human Trafficking (CNCLT), Hicham El Mellati, expressed the Kingdom’s firm desire to strengthen, in collaboration with other partners, the fight against this scourge.
Mr. El Mellati also stressed the need to further promote coordination with relevant government departments and civil society, recalling the initiatives launched by the various stakeholders with a view to “giving a voice to victims” through the strengthening of judicial procedures. able to provide them with the necessary support.
He also indicated that the Commission is currently looking into the development of several action programs relating in particular to the opening and equipping, initially, of reception centers for victims of the trafficking in human beings in the cities of Fez and Tangier, with a view to their generalization to other regions of the Kingdom.
