(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Efforts to address the issue of Human Trafficking in the CARIFORUM Region are being bolstered with a new study on Human Trafficking that is expected to provide a greater understanding of the problem within and across its borders.

Canadian firm, Dunn, Pierre, Barnett and Company, Canada Limited, has been engaged by CARIFORUM to conduct the comprehensive study. The countries involved include Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

The study began on July 19, 2019 and will inform the methods that will be used to design interventions which are evidence-based and consistent with best practices in anti-trafficking including, but not limited to prevention, protection and prosecution.

It is hoped that the research will also provide useful information on, types, patterns and routes of trafficking; profiles of trafficked persons, and vulnerability factors for trafficking; border and law enforcement issues and information about the traffickers; and anti-trafficking efforts currently being undertaken. It will also examine anti-trafficking efforts of international organisations and civil society within the region.

The research team is expected to meet with critical stakeholders including representatives of Ministries of National Security, Legal and Attorneys General, the Police, prisons and other public sector agencies. Individuals from vulnerable communities, victims and proprietors will also form part of the study. The private sector and civil society organisations will also be participating in this important regional initiative. The Cooperation of all stakeholders is anticipated.

The team, which comprises ten (10) consultants will be led by Dr. Ninna Nyberg Sørensen from the Danish Institute of International Studies, Dr. Victoria Knox from the Department of Force Migration and Refugees Studies, University of London and Dr. Justine C. Pierre, Migration and Labour Market Consultant, Dunn, Pierre, Barnett and Company. Other consultants include Dr. Ezra Mathias and Ms. Veronica Canac. Project consultants will engage with stakeholders and social actors in each CARIFORUM Member State and contact points from line Ministries in the Member States as well as representatives from regional and international institutions.

According to the latest United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Report (2018) Human Trafficking is on the rise in the CARIFORUM region. Therefore, this study is being conducted at a critical time. Human Trafficking is defined as the subjection of men, women and children to compelled service for the purposes of exploitation. The CARIFORUM study is being conducted with funding from the Caribbean Regional Indicative Programme under the Tenth European Development Fund (10th EDF).