US provides over USD 1Mn to combat human trafficking in SL

COLOMBO (News 1st); A three year project to combat human trafficking has been initiated by the Ministry of Defence, with funding support from the United States Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The US Ambassador said that the US has provided over $1 million for the project.

The project entitled “Strengthening Government and CSO Capacity to Combat Trafficking in Persons and Create Greater Impact” (IMPACT) aims to strengthen national and community level capacities and scale up community driven responses to effectively combat and respond to trafficking in persons.

The project also aims to contribute to the effective implementation of the National Strategic Action Plan to Monitor and Combat human trafficking. The “IMPACT” project will be implemented in close collaboration with the National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (NAHTTF) spearheaded by the Ministry of Defence.

As Chairman of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, the Ministry of Defence designed a new Website (https://nahttf.gov.lk/), in order to more effectively achieve the objectives of the National Strategic Action Plan to monitor and combat Human Trafficking, and more proactively collaborate with the non-governmental and civil society organizations.