ROYAL HOST: Ambassador Quillino Bamwine Hosts eSwatini Royal Princes in Uganda
Shift Media News 
By PATRICK JARAMOGI
KAMPALA, Uganda [SHIFTMEDIA] The remittances by Ugandans working abroad hit over $1.4 billion in 2017, though recent International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) report showed a slight decrease due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Amidst this backdrop, Human trafficking, one of the most horrendous crimes is claiming over 25 million people annually, Ugandans inclusive. These individuals are being used for the profit of their captors.
According Child Voice, over 800,000 are women trafficked for sexually exploitation globally, annually.
This thriving financial institution makes a profit of $150 Billion a year and is only growing.
What is being done
As mitigation factor, the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA) has signed an MoU with
the National-Organisation-of-Trade.html (NOTU), and Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE) to address human trafficking and ease externalization of labour.
On Monday, UAERA, NOTU AND FUE cemented this cooperation at a colorful event held at the UAERA offices in Kampala.
The UAERA Chairperson Baker Akatambira said the tripartite agreement will go along way in adding quality to the labor externalization.
‘The AGM that we held embraced this tripartite arrangement geared towards addressing safe regulation in the sector,’ said Akatambira.
He said the relationship between UAERA, NOTU and FUE will help them widen their scope further, since they shall be working with responsible people.
The Executive Director FUE Douglas Opio said FUE appreciates the role being done by UAERA in creating employment for Ugandans.
‘The importance of UAERA cant be underestimated, we are in the era of high youth unemployment, that is being addressed by them,’ he said.
The Secretary General National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) also Member of Parliament for Bubulo West Constituency Peter Christopher Werikhe said the Tripartite arrangement will help drive our human traffickers out of business.
‘It is a high time Government of Uganda creates a well enabling law that will fully recognize UAERA,’ he said.
He called upon Ugandans working in the diaspora especially the Middle East to always return home when their contracts expire.
‘Genuine immigrant workers move during day time and through Entebbe Airport not through the porous borders. Please use the set up Toll Free Hot Lines to report any persons taking Ugandans, yet they are not registered by Government,’ he said.
NOTU Chairman General Usher Wilson Owere said, ‘Today is one of the happiest days of my life. Now that we are all here to strengthen this tripartite agreement that will save Ugandans from being trafficked.’
Owere thanked UAERA and FUE for creating an enabling working condition with NOTU.
‘I challenge government and our parliament to put in place a mechanism where heads of government parastatals will be asked to explain how many jobs they have created as heads of government institutions,’ said Owere.
What is UAERA?
The Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA) started in 2013. Currently it has a membership of 206 members as per 19th July 2021. We an umbrella of agencies professionally working together to spur growth of external recruitment in Uganda. UAERA regulates and monitors the activities of member agencies together with Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, which is our regulating body that ensures every company is licensed to externalize labour.
Our member agencies source job opportunities from all over the world. The major destination countries are in the Middle East, where the economies are sustainable and therefore creating jobs.
