ATO Opens New Secretariat in The Gambia

Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The African Tourism Organisation (ATO) last Monday openeda new Secretariat at Bijilo village in Kombo North region. The ATOSecretariat in The Gambia will serve as the sub- Regional office for the sub-Saharan network against Trafficking in Human Begins, illegal migration as well as drug trafficking.

Speaking at the press conference, the director general of ATO, Ibiduni Jones, asserted that ATO’s mission is the protection of trafficked human beings, drug trafficking and childsex tourism. She said that the ATO advocacy office and other international African agencies, including ATO 13 networks, will also focus on responsible travel tourism policies, youth development investments, public diplomacy and the environment. This will be done in partnership with other partners and the InternationalGraduateUniversity in WashingtonDC to create a special African team to raise awareness, build capacity as collaborative goal to reduce the demand, using the EU, UKHTC and Nordic Baltic Task Force Model as decided in may 2006.

Also speaking in role of trafficking Inspector, YA- Mudow Jagne of The Gambia police force spoke length about how they the police operated in terms of protecting children from bad tourists in the country. He said when such incidents happen the parents of the victims willcome forward and make it difficult for the police in the operational costs.

Author: Bakary Samateh