The Qatar Foundation for Combating Human Trafficking is seeking to develop a national action plan for combating trafficking in humans that will meet international standards. The Foundation yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Protection Project at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC that will enable cooperation between the two institutions in developing policies and mechanisms for combating trafficking in humans. The MoU was signed by Mariam Al Malki, director of the Foundation and Dr Mohamed Mattar, executive director of the Protection Project. The Protection Project is a human rights research institute based at the Foreign Policy Institute at SAIS. The activities of the Project include development of a human rights-based approach to trafficking in humans and advocacy for the protection of the rights of victims of trafficking against all forms of exploitation Speaking at a joint press conference after signing the agreement, the officials said a major area of cooperation was to promote research to assess the extent of the problem in Qatar and in the region and identify the victims. “Lack of information is a major problem that most countries are facing in this field. We will work together to establish a database in Qatar that will help identify the causes of the problem and find solutions. The MoU will also help the Foundation to develop legislation as well as a national plan for combating trafficking in humans, that will meet international standards,” said Mattar. Malki said Qatar had gone a long way in combating trafficking in persons and the new agreement would enable the Foundation to become a prominent regional centre dedicated to this task. “Women and children are the most vulnerable to trafficking in humans. Qatar is not totally free from this menace, but it has not become a phenomenon in the country. The MoU will help us develop more practical steps to combat this problem,” said Al Malki. The press conference was followed by a seminar focusing on various aspects of trafficking, with participation of experts from various Arab and GCC countries including Iraq, Jordan and Tunisia. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=April2009&file=Local_News200904052522.xml

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