Staff of humanitarian organisation Samoa Victim Support Group recently participated in a child protection workshop to ensure they continue to provide their services effectively.

The three-day workshop was held at the Lava Hotel and included a presentation on human trafficking by Faaniniva Edelma Niumata, who is a capture consultant of the Pacific Region Winrock International. 

S.V.S.G. President, Siliniu Lina Chang, said that her staff needed to be trained on human trafficking as it would boost the services that they currently offer. 

“If we want to serve our people wholeheartedly then we have to keep on learning,” she added.

According to Siliniu, the SVSG supports a diverse range of programmes to provide the best possible support to people in need.

Victim support operates on a policy of responding to all requests and never turning away people that ask for assistance. However, in some cases there is little that the S.V.S.G. can do apart from providing comforting words or practical advice. 

The first critical step in the work of the S.V.S.G. is to provide an assessment of every request so that an appropriate course of action can be taken. After the initial assessment, the client may be entered into one of the programmes run by the S.V.S.G.

In February last year a seminar on tackling human trafficking and people smuggling in the Pacific Islands, which was convened in Apia and was hosted by the Pacific Immigration Development Community (PIDC) Secretariat, heard that the region is experiencing an increase in human trafficking cases and leaders in the region as well as international organisations need to address it.