Lumos and USAID have launched an ambitious new, U$5.6M four-year project designed to curb human trafficking and help vulnerable children.

The BEST Project – Building Enduring Systems to End Trafficking in Persons – will support the Haitian government, local authorities and civil society to prevent, recognise and respond to trafficking and to protect victims. The Project will help protect thousands of vulnerable children and at least 500 human trafficking victims.

Millions of Haitian children are vulnerable to human trafficking and to modern-day slavery. Children can be snatched or sold to unscrupulous traffickers who sell them into forced labour or sex trafficking. Many are held against their will or shipped to other countries.

The new project will tackle human trafficking on all levels, working with and through the Haitian Government as well as civil society to raise awareness of the dangers and legal consequences of trafficking. It will also set up a communications campaign to change ingrained attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate human trafficking. And it will support law enforcement and prosecution efforts that hold traffickers to account, while also providing crucial services to victims.

“We are convinced that this project will greatly help build a resilient environment to eradicate trafficking,” said Eugene Jr Guillaume, Country Representative of Lumos Haiti. “Lumos is very happy to be working with key Haitian authorities and we are confident that we can overcome this challenge together.”