With a fast-growing, young and increasingly urban population, West Africa is undergoing rapid changes in population dynamics, which affect migration patterns. Mobility - which remains predominantly internal and within the region - and its associated benefits, such as access to employment and remittances, represent a vital livelihood strategy for many West Africans and their families. However, mobility can also increase vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking in children, women and men for labour exploitation, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation and exploitation through begging. Combating trafficking in persons is a priority for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission its Member States.

The EU-funded project “Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa)” is supporting the Annual Review Meeting of ECOWAS National Focal Points on Trafficking at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja, Nigeria on 27-29 July 2015. After the meeting, the FMM West Africa project will also provide an additional two-day training session for the National Focal Points, led by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). Trainers from ECOWAS, ICMPD, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the West Africa Network for Child Protection (WAN/RAO) will share their expertise with representatives of the West African governments – all 15 ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania.

Since 2014, FMM West Africa has been supporting ECOWAS with this Annual Review Meeting. It has provided expertise and logistical support in order to assist in ensuring the high quality of the 2014 meeting, as well as training for the National Focal Points. While the 2014 training covered trafficking in the context of migration in West Africa, the latest trends in forms of trafficking in the region and national action plans against trafficking, this year’s training session will cover legal frameworks for different forms of trafficking and trafficking data collection and research.

During the Annual Review Meeting and Training, the results of the ECOWAS Annual Synthesis Reports on Trafficking in West Africa for 2014 and 2015 will be discussed by participants. These reports cover the legal, policy and institutional framework of all 15 ECOWAS Member States, trends in forms of trafficking, routes, and trafficked and vulnerable people, and anti-trafficking activities, as well as an assessment of priorities, challenges and good practices in fighting trafficking in West African countries. The draft 2016 - 2020 ECOWAS Plan of Action to Combat Human Trafficking will also be presented and discussed by the participants.