The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Human Trafficking Institute renewed their agreement to work together to support the Office’s work to fight trafficking on the ground in Uganda. The agreement provides support for the Institute’s Special Counsel, as well as expand resources to bring an Associate Legal Counsel on board. Additionally, the agreement ensures that both parties will cooperate and continue to share pertinent information about relevant human trafficking cases in the country and abide by Uganda’s Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act. Justice Mike Chibita, Uganda’s Director of Public Prosecutions, signed the agreement on January 31. Tanima Kishore, who has served as the Institute’s Special Counsel to Uganda’s Director of Public Prosecutions since November 2017, will continue in her role.

“It has been a great pleasure to partner with the Human Trafficking Institute this past year,” said Justice Chibita. “We have made great strides but there is so much more to do. I am therefore gratified to renew our agreement for another year. We are looking forward to another year with Tanima.”

The agreement stipulates that the Institute will continue to partner together with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) by providing an Institute Special Counsel in the ODPP to strengthen and support their efforts.

“I am thankful for the support and encouragement received from the ODPP in Uganda this past year,” said Kishore. “Justice Chibita and his team’s commitment to decimate human trafficking is a source of great inspiration to several institutions in Uganda, and it is my honor to be a part of these continuing efforts.”

The agreement also helps to ensure that a dedicated trafficking in persons (TIP) training will occur within the next two years. The training will be focused on Ugandan cases studies, as well as effective and practice strategies for combatting trafficking. Together with the ODPP, the Institute will prepare program content, training materials, and an agenda that best suits the needs of those in attendance and is tethered to specific Ugandan TIP cases.

“We are excited to continue to partner with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in their work against trafficking in Uganda,” said Dave Rogers, the Institute’s Director of Law Enforcement Operations. “We are also grateful for Justice Chibita’s support of the Institute’s Special Counsel. Together, we hope to continue to strengthen prosecutions and move more cases forward.”