The National Police and Winrock International signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Counter Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) to strengthen the capacity of the Kingdom’s law enforcement officers.
The MoU was signed last week between deputy National Police chief Chiv Phally and Winrock’s CTIP chief of party Mark Taylor.
“The MOU is aimed at strengthening the capacity of both National Police officers and capital-provincial officials in counter human trafficking,
labour exploitation in all its forms, especially child labour exploitation and sexual trafficking,” said the National Police in a statement on their website.
According to the statement, Taylor thanked National Police chief Neth Savoeun and Phally for cooperating with WinRock International to continue the work countering human trafficking in Cambodia.
The website quoted Taylor as saying that WinRock International is committed to working with the Department of Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection to initiate preventive action by disseminating information on the risks of forced labour and threats of human trafficking, such as exploitation of labour at brick kilns, crooked recruitment companies and scams cheating workers out of their money.
Taylor said that preventive actions could include assistance in disseminating laws, principles, guidelines, proclamations and sub-decrees related to all forms of counter-trafficking operations.
Phally said WinRock International will coordinate with the department’s representatives in organising training topics for expert officials such as investigative techniques and gathering evidence related to human trafficking and all other forms of exploitation.
He further stated that the capacity building cooperation included investigators and officials from the department and priority capital-provincial departments that have been identified as target areas for human trafficking.
Winrock International is implementing the CTIP project, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in Cambodia from 2021 to 2026 in eight provinces that are assessed as collaborative targets for counter-human trafficking operations conducted with the government, private sector and civil society organisations.
In 2021, the US launched a new five-year USAID-funded CTIP project that aims to address the root causes of human trafficking, protect vulnerable populations from the crime and assist the government in its combat against trafficking, while also supporting victims more effectively.
