Khartoum – On 16th November 2017, IOM Sudan conducted a 5 day training for 16 Sudanese judges, lawyers, police officers and a social worker on Investigating and Prosecuting Trafficking in Persons took place at the Guest Palace Hotel in Dongola. The training is part of a series of workshops that began in June this year as a joint venture between IOM and the Sudan Judicial and Legal Science Institute; with support from the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded Project ‘Strengthening the Capacity of the Criminal Justice System in Sudan to Address Human Trafficking’.

The trainers are themselves senior members of the Criminal Justice System, from the Judiciary, Criminal Prosecution Services and the Police force from Dongola and Khartoum. They were trained on delivering the curriculum during the 10 day Training of Trainers Workshop held in July 2017 and were also involved in creating the programme.

Judge Osman Mohammed Osman, a participant of the workshop said “the participatory approach of the workshop allowed me to further enrich my knowledge on the application of counter-trafficking law” and commented on the particular benefits of sessions on victim and witness protection.

Under the auspices of the Judicial and Legal Science Institute, the team of 15 trainers will in the coming months roll out the training across Sudan. The workshop is part of a series of joint efforts between IOM and the Government of Sudan to combat human trafficking and follows on for the launch of the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking which took place in Khartoum last week.

Given its position on a significant irregular migration route, Dongola is an important city in the fight against human trafficking and was selected for this reason to be a priority for the first series of workshops.

The workshop was designed and facilitated by IOM and the Institute utilizing international and national expertise.