This year World Day against Trafficking in Persons was marked in Egypt by declaring that a fund to protect victims of trafficking has been set up by the cabinet and that three awareness-raising books were penned by the EU to be distributed to all Egyptian schools the next academic year to raise awareness about the dangers of the crime among school children.

“Being an immigrant who was forced to leave my home because of war made me feel the importance of this issue and the urgency to combat it,” said a 15-year-old Sudanese girl who preferred to remain anonymous. Girls are especially more likely to be victims of trafficking, added her mother, who also preferred not to be identified.

Both took part in last week’s awareness-raising community event to highlight the national efforts and collaboration between all concerned national and international partners to accelerate action to end human trafficking. The event was part of this year’s global campaign against trafficking in persons held under the theme “Leave no child behind in the fight against human trafficking”.

The event that marked the 10th anniversary against trafficking was held in Cairo. Organised by the National Coordinating Committee for Preventing and Combating Illegal Migration and Trafficking in Persons (NCCPIM&PIM), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), ILO, the UNHCR, UNICEF, and save the Children International, it was funded by the EU, the US Department of State, and the Swiss Development Cooperation.

Naela Gabr, the chairperson of the NCCPIM&TIP, told the event that the committee was using all available resources to ensure that children are protected from being exploited by human trafficking networks. Children represent a significant proportion of trafficking victims worldwide; for every three victims of human trafficking globally, one is a child.

“Egypt has established a comprehensive mechanism to protect victims and potential victims from human trafficking through which all national parties collaborate,” Gabr said in her address to the event.

“With the theme of this year’s celebration, we use this platform to draw attention to the protection of children from trafficking in people and to make a strong appeal to the world ‘Leave no child behind in the fight against human trafficking’,” Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said in his address read to the event by Gabr.

The event opened with a video showing how trafficking in humans involves the use of children and how they are exploited in various ways, putting them, for example, to work long hours in poor conditions.

Cristina Albertin, the regional representative for the UNODC in the Middle East and North Africa, called for accelerating efforts and measures to protect the victims of trafficking. To date, Albertin told attendees, “we have not dealt properly with the issue and that should be changed.”

Jeremy Hopkins, the UNICEF representative in Egypt, noted that every child needs to grow in a safe environment and that millions of children worldwide are deprived of that future. Hopkins added that vulnerability put children at risk of human trafficking and called for strengthening legislation, raising awareness on the importance of reporting the crime and comprehensively supporting survivors.

Egypt issued Law 64 in 2010 and set up a committee responsible for combating trafficking. It was later merged with the committee to combat illegal migration to form the NCCPIM&TIP.

The NCCPIM&TIP, the first of its kind in the Middle East, is affiliated with the prime minister’s office with a mandate to coordinate nationally and internationally the policies and programmes to combat illegal migration and trafficking in people and support vulnerable communities at high risk.

The Egyptian government issued three national strategies for combating trafficking in humans, the latest from 2022 to 2026. It aims to support the national effort to combat trafficking in light of the two previous strategies.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 8 August, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly