By Andualem Sisay Gessesse – In an attempt to restore the human dignity of African migrants reportedly sold in Libya slave trade, the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) says it is working to track and find the victims.
“As we have seen in Libya how these youth are being sold in the slave trade. So we need to fight that. We have appealed to the world; we have appealed to the UN. We have also been advocating for these criminals and dismantle these criminal groups. We are also working to track these people who have been sold in those slave markets and give them back their dignity and their human status and freedom,” said Michaëlle Jean Secretary General of la Francophonie.
She made the remark on the go at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa this morning along with the AU Chairperson.
“…We have seen how many young youth and women crossing desserts and the Mediterranean in order to look greener pastures. So we have to deal with the root cause of this problem. Why these youth are leaving their countries,” she said.
The report of African migrants being sold in Libya slave trade was first came reported by American news channel the CNN a few months ago. Since then the world including the United Nations has been calling for investigations.
“We have been cooperating in peace and security, in good governance, elections, education, culture and we are also holding political consultations together. On the ground also we are working on the electoral processes in different countries. The prevention and resolution of conflict is also part of the cooperation. Also fighting terrorism is a very ambitious program but we are working together with IOF,” said Moussa Faki Mahamat, AUC chairperson.
In addition the two organizations have also been cooperating on economic frontiers such as AU Agenda 2063, according to the chairperson. In the frontier of education, “We need to ensure vocational training and creation of jobs for them,” he said.
Founded in 1970 IOF aims to embody the active solidarity between its 84 member states and governments (58 members and 26 observers), which together represent over one-third of the United Nations’ member states and account for a population of over 900 million people, including 274 million French speakers.
IOF organises political activities and actions of multilateral cooperation that benefit French-speaking populations. Its actions respect cultural and linguistic diversity and serve to promote the French language, peace and sustainable development.
Headquartered in Paris, IOF has concluded 33 cooperation agreements with international and regional organisations and has established permanent dialogue between the major international linguistic zones (the English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arab-speaking zones).