U.S., Zambia sign partnership to prevent trafficking in persons

The United States Embassy in Zambia’s Chargé d’Affaires, Linnisa Wahid and Minister of Home Affairs, Honorable Jack Mwiimbu, have recently signed the U.S.–Zambia Partnership to Prevent Trafficking in Persons (P2P), a new multi-year initiative to combat trafficking in persons in Zambia.

Implementation of this jointly developed program will strengthen the efforts of the Zambian government as it works with national stakeholders and civil society organisations to deepen a more sustainable, comprehensive, and coordinated response to human trafficking.

The P2P signing comes after several months of discussions between representatives of the Government of Zambia, the United States Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office), and the American Embassy in Zambia.

With the signing of this P2P, the first globally, the TIP Office provided $4 million in U.S. foreign assistance to Save the Children, which will collaborate with relevant Zambian government ministries and the TIP Office to implement an action plan developed to achieve the objectives of the P2P.

The objectives are to promote coordination across relevant ministries, civil society, local communities, and foreign counterparts. Provide protection services that are readily accessible to adult and child trafficking victims using a trauma-informed and victim-centered approach.

It also entails ensuring justice-sector actors utilise existing trafficking-specific legal frameworks to identify human trafficking victims, investigate cases, and prosecute and convict perpetrators of human trafficking in a victim-centered and trauma-informed manner.