UK injects extra £4.5 million to $8 million Hamro Samman project
KATHMANDU, June 14: Amid concerns from various quarters that there was duplication in the work of donor agencies, the USA and the UK have joined hands to combat human trafficking in Nepal. With a partnership document signed on Thursday, the development agencies of the two countries will work together to support the efforts of Nepal to combat human trafficking.
Speaking at a function organized in the capital on Thursday to announce the new partnership, USAID/Nepal Mission Director Amy Tohill-Stull said that this new partnership between the USAID and the UK's DfID will expand USAID's ongoing Hamro Samman Project to combat human trafficking in various 10 districts in Nepal.
Human trafficking through Pashupatinagar on the rise
The $8 million Hamro Samman Project, which is a five-year project launched in 2017, works closely with the government, civil society, and private sector in Nepal 'to foster collaborative partnerships among these stakeholders to better address human trafficking'. According to the head of DfID Nepal, Rurik Marsden, the UK government will provide extra 4.5 million sterling pounds to the project to bolster its efforts.
USAID/Nepal Mission Director in Nepal Tohill-Stull and DfID Head of Office in Nepal Marsden signed the partnership document to this effect on Thursday. Speaking at the function, the USAID/Nepal Mission director said that they are pleased that DfID has joined their partnership, as the collaboration will enable them to expand their efforts to combat human trafficking.
Acting Secretary at Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens Rajendra Kumar Paudel lauded the efforts of USAID and DfID to collectively fight human trafficking in Nepal.
Speaking on the occasion, DfID-Nepal head Marsden said the UK is committed to working with the Nepal government to help end modern slavery in Nepal.
The US government's 2018 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report ranks Nepal as a tier 2 country and identifies Nepal as a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking. While this report estimates that 30,000 Nepali girls and women are commercially exploited for sex each year, the 2018 Global Slavery Index estimates that 171,000 Nepalis are subject to slavery at any given time.
