VIETNAM: FY2005 NON LAW ENFORCEMENT TIP PROPOSALS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000207

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/RSP, G/TIP, EAP/BCLTV

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ELAB SMIG EAID KCRM KFRD VM TIP
SUBJECT: VIETNAM: FY2005 NON LAW ENFORCEMENT TIP PROPOSALS

REF: A. 04 State 264199


1. (SBU) Summary and Comment: The Mission's Anti-
Trafficking Working Group has identified two project
proposals for activities aimed at empowering women and
combating trafficking in women and children in and from
Vietnam that are especially deserving of funding. Nine
project proposals were submitted. The two recommended
projects total USD 750,000. Our top priority is an
ambitious proposal to conduct a nationwide baseline survey
to obtain data that can be used to measure the impact of all
future trafficking interventions in Vietnam. Vietnam
currently lacks any baseline data on trafficking; the entire
Vietnamese and international anti-trafficking community
operates on the assumption that trafficking in Vietnam is a
"big problem." Without decent data on the character and
scope of the problem, the main trafficking vectors, the
crossing points, the victims, the traffickers and the
trends, it remains impossible to gauge the effectiveness of
any anti-trafficking programs. The second priority project
is The Asia Foundation's continuation of its valuable work
in anti-trafficking in Vietnam.


2. (SBU) Summary and Comment, cont'd: The proposals we
received reflected the relatively underdeveloped state of
the NGO community in Vietnam. While large international
organizations such as IOM and UNICEF submitted visually
impressive and well-drafted proposals, many of the NGO
proposals were relatively roughly prepared. This reflects
the lower capacity of local NGOs. Nonetheless, the
Mission's top recommendation is a local NGO's project. If
Washington determines that this proposal has merit, Post
will have to work closely with the NGO to create both a more
rigorous and reasonable budget and an effective system of
monitoring and evaluation. Encouraging the development of
indigenous NGOs is consistent with our MPP, and building
capacity in the anti-trafficking NGO sector is essential to
fighting the anti-trafficking problem in Vietnam. We will
also have to work with this NGO to ensure that they have
secured the necessary cooperation from the GVN to make this
project successful. This will be more work than an off-the-
shelf proposal from a large expatriate-run NGO or IO, but it
will pay off in results. End Summary and Comment.


3. (U) The Mission received a total of nine proposals in
response to reftel request for TIP proposals sent out in
December. The proposals were from a diverse group of
organizations. Large, expatriate-run organizations such as
The Asia Foundation, IOM and UNICEF submitted proposals, but
so did several small Vietnamese NGOs. The projects are also
diverse in terms of geography. Post recommends below the
top two proposals for funding in FY05, and will provide
copies of all received proposals to EAP and G/TIP by email.

BEGIN RANK-ORDERED PROJECT SUMMARIES
--------------


1. Baseline Data Collection and Analyses for Combating
Trafficking in Persons in Vietnam under the Coordinated
Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking -- USD
450,000

This is by far the least "sexy" of the projects but, in
Post's opinion, the most useful and necessary one. The
recipient organization is the small Hanoi-based NGO/think
tank Institute for Social Development Studies. It is run by
Dr. Le Bach Duong, a U.S.-educated researcher who has worked
on trafficking and related issues for years. In particular,
Duong was the author of one of the few decent studies done
on child prostitution in Vietnam.

Duong's project fills a critical need in the anti-
trafficking environment: it aims to provide empirical
information that can be used for planning, designing,
monitoring and evaluating future intervention programs.

At the moment, no good data exist on trafficking in Vietnam.
We have only two kinds of data: anecdotal evidence and a
set of statistics supplied by MPS in 2003 and 2004 that is
based on police records and thus badly underreports
trafficking cases. The international community - and the
GVN - spends millions of dollars on anti-trafficking on the
basis of assumptions and cannot evaluate the impact of
programs due to a lack of baseline data. This project would
improve every other future trafficking project in Vietnam.


2. Enhanced Strategies for Anti-Trafficking in Vietnam --
USD 300,000

This is The Asia Foundation's submission. It builds on
their existing anti-trafficking projects in An Giang and
Quang Ninh Provinces and aims to expand and deepen the
effects of both of those projects. It employs experienced
staff and tested models and strategies, but also breaks new
ground in its effort to focus on how the allocation of
public resources at the local level can have an effect on
women at risk of being trafficked.

This project is aimed at the prevention of trafficking and
the rehabilitation and reintegration of returned trafficking
victims. The project's primary activities will be:
- Awareness-raising, using innovative techniques such as
community theater;
- Promotion of regional coordination by expanding on TAF's
work in bringing together provincial and local officials and
civil society groups from border provinces in Cambodia and
Vietnam;
- A push for direction of resources towards vulnerable women
at the local level, taking advantage of the "grassroots
democracy" initiative that provides local jurisdictions more
control over their budgets.

The project covers north, central and south Vietnam, in the
provinces of Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, An Giang and
Can Tho.


3. Support the Victims with Care and Rehabilitation and
Reduce the Risks of Woman Trafficking -- USD 111,000

This submission comes in jointly from two small Hanoi NGOs:
the STDs/HIV/AIDS Prevention Center (SHAPC) and the Research
Center for Gender and Development (RCGAD). It is a
prevention/rehabilitation/reintegration project focused on
the trafficking "highways" through Lang Son and Quang Ninh
Provinces in the north. The project plans to:
- Raise awareness through the production and dissemination
of IEC (information, education, communication) materials.
Raw material for IEC materials is going to come from victims
and vulnerable groups as well as from a series of surveys,
which will also form the baseline from which to measure the
project's impact. Orientation workshops for officials and
civil society representatives will also be a part of
awareness-raising activities.
- Reception and care for victims returned to Vietnam through
border gates. The project would establish counseling rooms
where returnees would receive counseling and health care and
begin the process of reintegrating into society.
- Establish a network of community-based educators in the
two provinces pulled from the ranks of vulnerable women and
the Women's Union. These will be available for at-risk
women in the provinces as well as to staff the counseling
rooms at the border gates and be the primary staff for
awareness-raising efforts.
- Support returnees through individual counseling,
vocational training and credit where appropriate, and the
establishment of "safe family clubs" to provide community
and peer support.

The modest budget (no expatriate staff) and well-targeted
intervention make this proposal attractive, as do the solid
partnership relationships with local organizations. The
monitoring and evaluation portion of this project was also
well thought-through.


4. Comprehensive Intervention to Combat Trafficking in
Persons in the Areas of Northern Border of Vietnam -- USD
160,000

This is the submission of a Hanoi NGO/think tank called the
Center for Community Development. The Center's head is Dr.
Tran Duy Luan, who is also the director of the Institute for
Sociology at the National Center for Social Sciences and the
Humanities, a rough equivalent to the Division of Behavioral
and Social Sciences and Education at the U.S. National
Academy of Sciences.

This project is also a prevention/rehabilitation/
reintegration project with a capacity-building component for
local authorities. It is focused on two high-risk districts
in Lang Son Province. Primary activities will be:
- Perform a baseline survey of victims and potential
victims. Use victim information to draft IEC materials and
distribute those materials in public campaigns. Provide
training to populations on the risks of trafficking.
- Provide intensive training on combating trafficking to
community leaders, law enforcement officers and mass
organizations, with training tailored to integrate with the
results of the baseline survey. Create an anti-trafficking
network within the communities to identify trafficking risks
and respond appropriately. Establish a counseling service
with a hotline as a focus point for any trafficking-related
information and to facilitate rehabilitation of victims.
- Provide subsidized health care for victims and establish
friends-help-friends community groups to assist in
reintegrating victims. Provide vocational training and low-
interest loans as appropriate for returned victims.

One of this project's strengths is its performance
indicators and monitoring plan. The project describes
excellent measuring and verification tools such as pre- and
post-training surveys, monitoring leadership attitudes
through interviews and collection of statistics. This
project is similar to project 3 but covers a more narrow
geographic area.


5. Prevention and Protection of Children and Women Against
Human Trafficking - USD 500,000

UNICEF submitted this three-year project. It is not clear
from the proposal where the project sites will be located.

Primary activities:
- Strengthen and develop the national plan of action on
trafficking and provide training for GVN and community
service providers in responding to trafficking. Develop
community protection models and strengthen cross-border
prevention and protection mechanisms with Cambodia.
- Raise public awareness through IEC campaigns and improve
available data through surveys.
- Establish three receiving/recovery centers, provide
counseling, prevention and reintegration services and open a
hotline.

Performance indicators are adequate for this project,
although description of monitoring and evaluation plans is
thin. The project is quite expensive, and includes 12
percent for UNICEF headquarters as well as six percent for
UNICEF's project management fees.


6. Community Involvement in Prevention of Trafficking in
Women and Girls in Lang Son - USD 133,000

Another Lang Son proposal, this one from the Hanoi NGO
Centre for Reproductive and Family Health. RAFH has already
done a similar project in Quang Ninh Province, so we know
they have the expertise. This is a prevention/protection
project. Primary activities:
- Organize an orientation workshop and set up an anti-
trafficking network for local authorities and mass
organizations.
- Set up a counseling center for victims and create friend-
help-friend clubs for the victims in each commune. -
Provide vocational training courses and health care for the
victims. Set up training courses for returned victims to
help them avoid re-trafficking.
- Develop and distribute IEC materials and hold training
courses for anti-trafficking network members.

RAFH's performance indicators are good and the monitoring
and evaluation portion has been considered. The costs are
relatively low for the project. We can report from
experience, however, that RAFH is somewhat fond of expensive
written materials, brochures, booklets, posters, etc., and
in this project the development and printing of IEC
materials are a relatively large part of the budget - more
than USD 60,000. This is an indication of RAFH's priorities
and the reason we ranked this one below the other two Lang
Son projects with similar goals.


7. Rehabilitation and Reception of Trafficked Children in
Dong Thap Province - USD 476,000

IOM Hanoi submitted this project, which is aimed at setting
up a rehabilitation and reception center in the southern
border province of Dong Thap, as well as developing the
skills of counselors and other officials and establishing an
awareness-raising program. IOM already manages one such
shelter - called the Little Rose Shelter - with USG money in
Ho Chi Minh City. Another similar project, incorporating
job and vocational training, is in its early stages in
northeastern Vietnam. Primary activities:
- Set up the rehabilitation and reception center, which is
scaled to help 100 trafficking victims over two years;
create health and psychosocial care and referral mechanisms.
- Build the capacity of the counselors and caregivers of the
Commision on Population, Families and Children in Dong Thap.
- Carry out an awareness-raising program to prevent
trafficking and re-trafficking.

The project is narrowly focused and extremely expensive.
IOM lists the center as helping 100 trafficked children, and
the training and capacity building reaching 31 counselors
and 20 provincial government staff. Project office and
staff costs, including IOM staff, is more than one-third of
the total budget. More can be done with less.


8. Theater for Action - Drama as a Means to Minimize
Trafficking of Women and Children in Vietnam -- USD 131,000

This is innovative awareness-raising project is from the
Mobility Research and Support Center in Ho Chi Minh City, a
small NGO. MRSC has been active in the anti-trafficking
field for years and produced useful literature on the
phenomenon of arranged marriages between foreign men and
Vietnamese Women called Marriages of Convenience. Primary
activities:
- Recruit members of vulnerable groups in high-risk
communities to develop theater performances to entertain and
communicate the dangers and issues related to trafficking
and domestic violence. Record the performances and then
work with other NGOs to distribute the best performances
nationally.

This is a good NGO with a creative approach to the awareness-
raising problem, with a strong chance of successfully
implementing the program and having an impact. We did not
rank them higher because MRSC is focused very narrowly on
the issue of marriage to Taiwanese men as a form of
trafficking - an extreme interpretation of a phenomenon we
have examined and found does not meet the definition of
trafficking. More importantly, the Asia Foundation proposal
(number 2 above) has a similar awareness-raising component,
and plans to work with MRSC to execute it - so it would
still be possible to support this organization's work.


9. Raising Public Awareness and Preventing Trafficking in
Persons between Border of Kampuchea and Vietnam - USD
293,000

This project was submitted by the Department of Social Work
of the Open University in HCMC. The Department states in
its proposal that it has experience organizing awareness-
raising and prevention activities in HCMC dating from 1995-
2000, although we have not heard of these activities in
Hanoi. The project targets HCMC plus Can Tho, Soc Trang,
Kien Giang and Tay Ninh Provinces.

Primary activities will be:
- Awareness-raising through unspecified "social activities"
in target areas.
- Development of knowledge and skills of social and
community development workers to facilitate cooperation in
anti-trafficking. Organization of "advocacy activities"
with NGOs and local government officials.
- Establishment of "drop-in" centers in five provinces to
help victims of trafficking.
- Organization of workshops on awareness in five provinces
and short-term training courses in "emergency socio-
psychological support and social activities for victims". -
Organization of (unspecified) "prevention activities".
- Local networking.

The specifics of this proposal's activities are a little
thin and the budget is not an extremely useful document.
Likewise, the monitoring and evaluation component seems
incomplete in some areas and unrealistic in others. The
biggest part of the budget is reserved for the salaries of
two HCMC-based "project directors" whose connection to the
project is unclear. Still, the geographic area covered by
this project is one that is in real need of anti-trafficking
support.

END PROJECT SUMMARIES.


4. (SBU) Post would appreciate the Department's initial
comments on submitted proposals as soon as possible in order
to respond to the hopeful applicants. Law-enforcement-
related proposal will arrive septel.

MARINE