Kingston, Jamaica – January 22, 2022: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the European Union (EU), on Saturday, January 22, 2022, hosted a ceremony to highlight and award the winners of the Artworks for Freedom! Stop Human Trafficking Art Competition. The awardees ranged from ages 6 to 25 years old, and the prizes included laptops, tablets, gift vouchers and mobile phone credit. The event was held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, Jamaica.  

The art competition was aimed at raising awareness not only amongst the student and youth population on the realities of human trafficking in Jamaica but to utilize the talents of Jamaica’s children and youth to inform and raise awareness amongst the general population as well. This competition is a part of the Multi-Country Border Security Project (MCBSP) funded by the EU and implemented in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

“Raising awareness is not simply educating potential victims about the threat of human trafficking; it is not just educating lawyers, judges, police officers, immigration officers, social workers, policy makers, the man on the street and our children about human trafficking. It is educating in such a way that you create an understanding in people of the truths and banishing the myths about human trafficking,” said Keisha Livermore, Head of the IOM Office in Jamaica. 

The competition was organized by the IOM in collaboration with the EU and supported by the National Task Force Against Human Trafficking in Persons, the Edna Manley College of the Performing and Visual Arts and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission. Marianne Van Steen, Ambassador, European Union Delegation to Jamaica noted that fighting trafficking in human beings is more urgent than ever in COVID times.  “The COVID crisis has created aggravated circumstances for vulnerable people, including children to fall victim to trafficking and other forms of human exploitation.

Since 2003, the IOM has been working closely with the government of Jamaica to prevent trafficking in persons as well as identify and assist victims of trafficking. At a broader level, there has been keen focus on pursuing criminal justice actions against perpetrators and facilitating national, regional, and global partnerships among key stakeholders. 

For further information, please contact Icka Bailey at IOM Jamaica. Email: ibailey@iom.int Tel: 876-997-5701.