NIGER - NIGERIA REPORT OF THE THIRD JOINT TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP (JTWG) ON STRENGTHENING CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION IN COMBATING TRAFFIKING IN PERSONS Strengthening Niger-Nigeria Cooperation on Countering Trafficking in Human Beings

Minutes of the Third Meeting of the JTWG

15 November 2021

Venue: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abuja, Nigeria 
Duration: 3pm-7pm
                                                            

Introduction: The Director-General of ANLTP and NAPTIP Director-General represented by NAPTIP Director, Legal Department, both co-chair the meeting and introduced the members of the JTWG from each country.

Opening Remarks: The Director General of ANLTP-TIM and the NAPTIP Director, Legal Department, both took turns to deliver their brief remarks as co-chairs each recalling the events that took place during the launch and inaugural meeting and restated their commitment to strengthen their collaboration in the fight against human trafficking in line with the project objective. A summary of the joint sensitization activities that took place at the border communities in Niger and Nigeria in September 2021 was presented by each country to the working group. The objective of the 3rd JTWG meeting focused on the validation of the draft JTWG ToR and MoU between NAPTIP and ANLTP/TIM, creation of the Sub-Committees and its membership.

Adoption of the last minutes of the Inaugural meeting and draft JTWG ToR: The report of the JTWG inaugural meeting and draft terms of reference (ToR) in Agadez, Niger in June 2021, which had hitherto been shared by ICMPD (both in English and French) with Niger and Nigeria members and was unanimously adopted. 

Matter Arising, Discussions and Conclusion

a.	Validation of the MoU: NAPTIP and ANLTP with support from the Nigeria Ministry of Justice and the Niger counterpart and the Director, Consular and legal department Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provided inputs and suggestions on the already drafted MoU and necessary amendments were agreed upon collectively after extensive consultations on the form and content in both languages (English-French). After much deliberation, the MoU was validated in the presence of both agencies.

b.	Report on the Joint Caravan Sensitization initiative: The report of the bilateral sensitization activities in Nigeria and Niger was presented to the working group.  A common recommendation that was apparent from both countries at the border communities was that, the community heads/chiefs urged both agencies (NAPTIP and ANLTP) to make the sensitization a continuous exercise and not a one-off activity, as this would enable the population living around the border communities on both the Nigeria and Niger sides to understand and become aware of the dangers of human trafficking. During the community dialogues facilitated, the border community residents were sensitized on exposing traffickers who have now adopted an approach of renting houses at these communities as transit camps to trafficked victims. The community leaders encouraged a whistleblowing approach in exposing and reporting traffickers to the appropriate channels provided. The border community chiefs/leaders assured the NAPTIP delegation on the Nigeria side continued support by offering facility to aid zonal office set-up for NAPTIP in the communities and set up a Joint workforce in the communities that would be instrumental in information sharing vis-à-vis to the fight against trafficking in human beings.

c.	Report and update from the CSOs: The network of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria and Niger were invited to the third (3) JTWG meeting and incorporated as part of the inaugurated sub-committee. The Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse & Labour (NACTAL) president and the representative from LTHP NGO, Niger, both acknowledged the recommendations and decisions of the JTWG member towards CSO inclusion under the framework of the NR-NG project. The two CSO representatives gave updates on the various intervention activities in collaboration with national institutions in combatting human trafficking in Niger and Nigeria respectively, and achievements the networks have been able to achieve and further reiterated commitment in cooperating with NAPTIP and ANLTP/TIM for fight against trafficking in Persons in the region.

d.	Formulation of the Sub-committee: The Co-Chair (NAPTIP and ANLTP) led the creation of the sub-committee groups as stated in the inaugural meeting. Members aired their opinions on the formulation of the sub-groups and agreed that from the JTWG group the sub-committees would be created. The Consular Officer of Nigerian Embassy in Niger enumerated the benefits and importance of the sub-committee groups.

The four (4) thematic areas validated are;
•	Protection and repatriation
•	Prevention
•	Prosecution and Investigation
•	Resource mobilization and partnership
 
Composition of the Sub-Committees in four (4) thematic areas:

Prevention:	
Nigeria: 
. NAPTIP
. Nigeria Police Force (NPF)
. CSO

Niger:
. ANLTP/TIM
. OSC LTHP 
. CNCLTP/TIM 	

Prosecution and Investigation:
Nigeria:
. NAPTIP
. NPF
. Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

Niger:
Pole spécialisé en matière de terrorisme et CTO (Siège) 
. Pole spécialisé en matière de terrorisme et CTO (Parquet) 
. DST	

Partnership and Resource Mobilization:	
Nigeria: 
. NAPTIP
. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
. FMHDS

Niger:
. ANLTP/TIM
. Ministère de la Justice
. Ministère des Affaires Etrangères et de la Coopération : Direction Générale des Affaires Juridiques et Consulaires	

Protection and Repatriation:
Nigeria: 
. NAPTIP
. NIS
. MFA

Niger:
. ANLTP/TIM
. Ministère de la Justice : Direction de l’Office d’Entraide Pénale et de la Coopération Judiciaire
. DST
             
The Co-Chair (Director-Generals of NAPTIP and ANLTP/TIM) took turns and expressed their profound gratitude to the participants and their contributions towards a successful meeting.


ICMPD, Abuja
27 November 2021