US, Cote d’Ivoire sign Child Protection Compact (CPC) partnership
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - The US and Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesdy signed a Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership, a non-binding multi-year initiative to address child sex trafficking and forced child labor in the West African country.
The partnership was signed by the US Chargé d’Affaires to Cote d’Ivoire, Joann M. Lockard, First Lady of Cote d’Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara, and Minister of Employment and Social Protection, Mr. Adama Camara.
A media note by the Office of the Spokesperson of the US Department of State said implementation of the jointly developed partnership will strengthen the efforts of the Ivoirian government as they work with national stakeholders and civil society organisations in a sustainable, coordinated fashion to address child sex trafficking and forced child labour.
The media note said the CPC Partnership signing comes after several months of discussions between representatives of the Government of Cote d’Ivoire, the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office), which is responsible for leading the Department’s global engagement to combat human trafficking, and the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan.
"With the signing of this CPC Partnership, the TIP Office, working with Congress intends to provide up to $10 million in U.S. foreign assistance that will be awarded to nongovernmental and/or international organisations who will collaborate with relevant Ivoirian government ministries and the TIP Office to implement the action plan that has been developed to achieve the objectives of the CPC Partnership."
The media note said these objectives include ensuring prevention efforts are better coordinated and targeted across the country and providing protection services that are readily accessible to child trafficking victims using a trauma-informed and victim-centered approach.
Others are ensuring justice sector actors utilise existing trafficking-specific legal frameworks to identify child trafficking victims, investigate cases, and prosecute and convict perpetrators of child trafficking in a child-friendly, victim-centred, and trauma-informed manner; and promoting coordination across relevant ministries, civil society, local communities, and foreign counterparts.
-0- PANA MA 8Dec2022
