ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) are collaborating on a nationwide public awareness campaign against trafficking in persons (TIP) and the smuggling of migrants (SOM).

The campaign is supported by the Australian Department of Home Affairs, the United States Department of State and the European Union, under the framework of the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT).

The campaign aims to increase awareness of the risks, issues and challenges associated with human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants in order to create community-led efforts and a national discourse that would ultimately lead to the engagement of policymakers.

The campaign is being implemented at the national level with a focus on high-risk areas, and will include the distribution of brochures and banner displays in key districts, a social media page and the dissemination of public service announcements (PSA) through local and terrestrial radio and SMS.

The nationwide rollout will commence today (Monday) and run until December.

UNODC country representative Cesar Guedes said: “We need to mobilise all the relevant stakeholders to empower the institutions and promote innovation in conventional approaches. When it comes to awareness-raising we must target the community at the grassroots level to have a deeper impact.”

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2018