Guwahati, 3rd July, 2023 – SIGMA Foundation conducted a study on Status of Child Trafficking in North Eastern State on being engaged by North East Diocesan Social Service Society (NEDSSS) with support from Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The study brought out an overall situation on child trafficking in the seven Nort-Eastern states of India using secondary data. That was followed by a primary survey-based assessment of the situation on child trafficking in Assam. The 4 P approach (Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Partnership) promoted by UNICEF was used as the framework of the study and the Protective Environment Framework followed by UNICEF in understanding child trafficking was also used to get better insights from the study. Qualitative data was collected from key officials of the state government, Gram Panchayat functionaries, NGOs working in this field and community members using tools like KIIs and FGDs.
The report was disseminated in a workshop (named In Solidarity Against Child Trafficking) organized by NEDSSS in their campus at Guwahati on the 3rd July, 2023. The Director and other officials of NEDSSS, the Executive Director of CRS along with Head of Programme Ms Vijaylakshmi Arora and other officials of CRS, representatives from the State Child Protection Society (SCPS), Department of Women & Child Development, Govt. of Assam, UNICEF Assam Field Office, DLSA Kamrup district participated in the programme. Several reputed NGOs like Save the Children, CRY, NEDAN Foundation, SNEHALAY, UTSAH, and many others working in the field of child protection in Assam also participated in the workshop.
The report of SIGMA Foundation was presented before the participants by Dr M.N.Roy, President of the organization. This was followed by two panel discussions – one on ‘Inclusive Approaches to Combat Child Trafficking and Wellbeing for All’ and the other on ‘Strengthening Systems for Child Protection: Collaboration and Sustainable Solutions’. The discussions covered the key issues and challenges related to child trafficking and brought out good insights in planning suitable interventions for combating child trafficking in Assam.
