by Helen Kasaka
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) has called on the sisters in the ACWECA region to build a network of information through research and data collection that shows the gravity and scale of the problem of human trafficking.
CCJP Secretary, Chris Chisoni said this when he gave a presentation on human trafficking at the just ended 16th ACWECA General Assembly in Lusaka, Zambia.
Chisoni reiterated that a lot of people were benefitting from different continents by shipping human beings from poor countries in Africa through promising them a good life.
He urged the sisters to increase awareness of this vice and collaborate with their various governments and continental unions to strengthen the legal frameworks to eliminate human trafficking in Africa.
He called on individual congregations to help in building desiring communities that will be alert in curbing this vice.
“At individual congregation level, there is need of building desiring communities that are aware and realize what is happening and the gap that can be created by human traffickers so that no more citizens should be taken on board in the business of human trafficking,” he said.
He advised political leaders to put in place rehabilitation institutions and economic empowerment schemes to evade the attractions and deceptions the traffickers offer.
“People should not easily be attracted with the promises of a good life, because often times these are deceptions,” he said.
Mr. Chisoni invited the church to work closely with the government to ensure that programs of service delivery are responding to the needs and aspirations of the people.
Human trafficking is referred to as modern day slavery.