The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), within the framework of the ECOWAS-European Union project “support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration (FMM) in West Africa”, embarked on a four-day advocacy and sensitization campaign for the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card (ENBIC) and the fight against Trafficking in Persons between 23^rd to 26^th April 2019.

The delegation for the advocacy and sensitization campaign was led by representatives from the ECOWAS Commission’s Free Movement and Humanitarian Directorates and was supported by the International Organization of Migration (IOM), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

The aim of the campaign which traversed the Nigeria-Benin-Togo borders sought to engage key stakeholders such as transporters and law enforcement agencies in charge of border management with the aim of sensitizing them on the instrumentality of the ENBIC in combating Trafficking in Persons and strengthening the security architecture and data management at the ECOWAS borders.

The ENBIC which will improve the free movement of people, goods and services has been adopted as a valid travel document within the ECOWAS region and so has far been deployed in Ghana, Senegal and Guinea Bissau.