FY2006 ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) PROJECTS FOR

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000165 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID STATE FOR G/TIP (AMY O'NEILL, SALLY NEUMANN),INL, NEA/RA, NEA/MAG, DRL/BA, DRL/IL, AND PRM (SONIA DENTZEL) GENEVA FOR LABATT LABOR FOR ILAB HALEY, MUIRRAGUI, STEIN, AND FAULKNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM EAID ELAB KCRM KWMN SMIG ASEC MO SUBJECT: FY2006 ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) PROJECTS FOR MOROCCO REFS: (A) 05 STATE 0221179 ¶1. Mission Morocco welcomes the Department's continued interest in supporting Moroccan efforts to stem trafficking in persons, treat its victims, and punish its perpetrators. The mission is very appreciative of Department's recent decision to earmark USD 183,344 in support of two anti-trafficking projects aimed at combating the trafficking of children into domestic servitude in Morocco. ¶2. Post would like to take advantage of the opportunity, as presented in ref A, to submit a new project proposal, which is designed to aid Moroccan minors at-risk of being trafficked abroad. This proposal entails underwriting efforts offered by International Organization for Migration (IOM),the Moroccan Ministry of Social Development, Family, and Solidarity (MSFSF) - Entraide Nationale, as well as local authorities and associations and NGOs active in the field of child protection in Morocco. In recent months the incidences of minors being smuggled and/or trafficked out of Morocco to EU countries has increased dramatically. Post strongly supports this project as a first step in addressing this growing problem. ¶A. Title: SALEM: Solidarite Avec Les Enfants du Moroc - Solidarity With the Children of Morocco ¶B. Organization: The proposal is being submitted by the IOM who will implement the project. The IOM currently has a number of projects underway in Morocco and has recently been granted the right to have official representation in the country. Other partners include the MDSFS - Entraide Nationale (Public Establishment for the Fight Against Poverty),an organization established in 1957 as a private enterprise which later switched to a financially independent public establishment, and various NGOs and associations active in the protection of children. ¶C. Duration: Eight months - new project. ¶D. Description: General Information and Summary: The SALEM project aims to strengthen the local child protection system and services in Morocco in order to reduce the exposure of at-risk minors to trafficking, irregular migration,and exploitation, as �A;well as examine the health-related aspects. According to recently acquired data on the phenomenon, thousands of Moroccan minors are trafficked to Western European countries, particularly Spain, France and Italy. According to data provided by the National Committee for Foreign Minors, 20% of Italy's unaccompanied minors are from Morocco. In addition, due to its geographical position, Morocco is of increasing interest to criminal networks involved in trafficking of persons from the Sub-Saharan region. In this context, in order to set up preventative mechanisms, it is necessary to acquire a deep understanding of the phenomenon through research activities. This preliminary and essential research phase, for which IOM will request the financial support of the GTIP/Department of State fund, will be part of a larger joint program with the Italian Government containing a series of activities aimed at preventing the traffickingof minors in the Moroccan Region of Beni Mellal. By supporting educational, professional training, sheltering, listening and orientation services for minors, the project intends to create realistic alternatives for those marginalized families who perceive migration for their children as the only possible way for a better future . The project will require close cooperation with central and local governmental and non-governmental interlocutors involved in child protection and assistance in Morocco. The SALEM initiative, with the support of both the US and the Italian Governments, will be an essential component of the IOM strategy in the country. Morocco has been a member of IOM since 23 November ¶1998. The Organization has already carried out various activities in close cooperation with the Moroccan government which led to the creation of an Observatory of the Moroccan Community Abroad and of the Centre for Migrants' Rights. Currently, IOM is creating a multifunctional center in Ttouan as a Pilot Project for the socio- economic development of a region with high migratory potential in Morocco. Project Objectives: This project intends to contribute to the creation of integrated responses to prevent irregular migration, trafficking, and exploitation of unaccompanied minors. In particular, the project will aim to: -Improve information concerning irregular migration and trafficking of minors from/through/to Morocco. -Identify key areas of further intervention to reduce the exposure of Moroccan minors to the risks of trafficking. -Reinforce the networking and operational capacities of local agencies, institutions, governments, associations/NGOs active in the field of child protection. Target Beneficiaries: Minors at risk of becoming involved in trafficking and their families, as well as previously-trafficked minors in ad hoc structures currently in other countries; national and local government institutions and NGOs active in child and adolescent protection in Morocco. The project is expected to positively affect approximately 15,000 to 20,000 minors. Project Activities: SALEM will be comprised of different project components, including rehabilitation of structures for minors' care, shelter, education and vocational/professional training support, as well as strengthening local services through training of social and health care-givers. The intervention will be prepared through research activities to acquire a deeper knowledge of the phenomenon in order to better target activities, priority geographical areas and needs, local counterparts, specific vulnerability factors, and will be consolidated through a specifically- tailored information campaign. Department of State assistance is requested to support the research actions and to contribute, together with the Italian Cooperation, to the training of social and health caregivers involved in the preventative measures and outreach/assistance activities to the target group. ¶1. Research on the phenomenon of irregular migration and trafficking in minors from/through/to Morocco. - Elaboration of questionnaires; - Conducting interviews with different target groups and in particular: Moroccan at-risk minors; Moroccan unaccompanied minors abroad, particularly in Italy, France and Spain which are the main destination countries of Moroccan minors' trafficking routes; non- Moroccan minors trafficked to Morocco; local and central authorities in Morocco as well as NGOs/associations active in the field of child protection and migration. The combination of different perspectives should support a better qualitative and quantitative knowledge of the phenomenon; - Production of a research study; - Translation of the research study in English, French and Arabic; - Presentation of the research study at a Workshop in Rabat, involving national local and central governmental and non- governmental actors; - Distribution of the research study among local, national and international counterparts; - Organization of meetings in identified local areas for the presentation of research outcomes. ¶2. Local capacity-building activities with an immediate impact on the target group: - Three psycho-social and health care four-day training for personnel with an immediate impact on the target group (shelter staff, social workers, NGO staff, health care workers, educators and school teachers). Special attention will be paid toward the training of trainers, in order to build capacity and potential for sustainability at all levels. Each training course will target no less than 20 participants; - Support to governmental decentralization and local good governance, social services management and child and juvenile protection with the aim of providing local authorities with operational tools to contain the root causes at the base of the phenomena of illegal migration and trafficking in minors. Expected Results: A deeper understanding of the phenomena of minors trafficking from/to/through Morocco; - A research book printed and translated into English, French and Arabic, for a total of 900 copies as a whole (300 in each language); - The increased level of information and awareness on the dynamics and risks inherent to trafficking and irregular migration; - Prevention strategies with respect to the phenomena of irregular migration/trafficking of minors identified and elaborated; - Coordination at local levels to improve child protective services; - Identify relevant areas of further intervention (structural, capacity-building, technical cooperation, information/awareness, etc.); - Strengthened capacities of caregivers of local minors' care- givers; - Protection and assistance measures improved through the provision of assisted return, psycho-social rehabilitation and familial, scholastic, educational and labor reinsertion services; - Improved living conditions of at-risk minors - Detailed findings in mid-term and final reports. ¶E. Justification: The SALEM project strategy aims to reduce the exposure of minors to a situation of vulnerability with respect to the phenomena of smuggling, trafficking and the worst forms of exploitation (sexual, for labor, for begging, for illicit activities, etc.) that are linked to them along with the protection principles set in the most important international instruments for child protection (NY Convention, ILO Convention n. 182, UNICEF Guidelines, UN Protocols on trafficking and smuggling). The project seeks to address the worrisome conditions at the origin of these phenomena: abandonment, abuse, and marginalization of vulnerable segments of the Moroccan youth population. The combination of different factors, economic, social, cultural, together with the restrictive emigration policies for the adult population towards countries of destination, often pushes marginalized and poor families to entrust their children to criminal networks in order to have access to the Western European countries with the hope to give them a better chance for the future. The link between migratory flows and socio-economic factors is also confirmed by the prevalence, among trafficked minors, of adolescents between 15 and 17 years of age, in search of a working opportunity and durable insertion chances. Additionally, Morocco has been increasingly targeted by criminal networks engaged in smuggling/trafficking in persons from the Sub-Saharan region. In this respect, according to IOM data, minors are trafficked to Morocco particularly from the Francophone Western African countries. The SALEM initiative will focus on prevention measures, particularly in the creation and enhancement of economic, social, pedagogical, psychological and educational opportunities to support substantial alternatives to the migratory project. At the same time, the reinforcement of locally available resources, both structural and human, to create dedicated areas for shelter/orientation/vocational-professional training and psycho- social support, as well as networks of social programs to benefit the entire minor population, including non-Moroccan minors trafficked from Sub-Saharan regions and Moroccan unaccompanied minors returning from Western European countries. The improved capabilities and opportunities serve to prevent exploitation, as well as assist in targeting at-risk minors and de facto victims of trafficking/smuggling. All intervention will be designed using knowledge of minors' trafficking from research. Such research activities will require a close collaboration with local authorities as well as NGOs and other associations. This initiative will be included in the national strategy of the Moroccan Government in the fields of child protection, socio-economic development and reduction of social exclusion, in the framework of the recently launched INDH (Initiative Nationale pour le Dveloppement Humain - National Initiative for Human Development),as well as in the field of combating illegal migration. The project will also be strongly supported by the Italian Government, particularly in the areas related to structural rehabilitation and training socio-sanitary caregivers. This measure is an important part of the IOM strategy in the Maghreb. This strategy promoted actions in migratory issues that led to the founding in 2000 of the Observers of the Moroccan Community Abroad with the Hassan II Foundation, and in 2002 of the Centre for Migrants' Rights. Currently, IOM is supporting the creation of a poly-functional centre in Ttouan in the framework of a pilot project for the socio-economic development of a region with high migratory potential in Morocco. ¶F. Performance Indicators: The research will focus on quantitative and qualitative aspects of trafficking and irregular migration of unaccompanied minors from/to/through Morocco. It will be further studied through interviews with different target groups (local stakeholders),as well as the minors themselves. The following indicators will help measure the impact of the research phase for quantitative purposes. - A rapid-assessment survey will determine the actual level of awareness of trafficking among local stakeholders (national and local authorities, NGOs, social services, families, etc.). A post- project survey (after 12 months) will show the level of improvement in knowledge of trafficking among these key groups. It is estimated that their knowledge will improve by at least 40%. - Current data indicates that Beni Mellal and Tangier are first among priority geographic areas. The research outcomes will confirm and/or modify the identification of priority geographic areas in need of further intervention. Such identification, together with the other quantitative and qualitative data (numbers of minors, specific target group risk factors, local institutions of reference and operational partners, etc.) will allow the development of an articulated Plan of Action for implementation of other project components, in coordination with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs experts and the IOM Missions involved in the project; - No less than 60 local care-givers will be trained to improve their ability to respond to the needs of target groups (minors' potential or de facto victims of trafficking). Improvement of capability will be measured with post-training questionnaires, with an expected improvement rate of 60%. ¶G. Evaluation Plan: The IOM Mission in Rome, in its role as coordinator of the project and Regional Office for the Mediterranean, guarantees regularly monitoring development of the project, will signal any possible problematic areas and consult with the donor on appropriate measures. Evaluation and monitoring of the project's progress will be carried out according to the Organization's internal parameters. The donor may choose to evaluate the implementation and management of the project at any time, as desired. More in-depth evaluation processes may be conducted by external, well-known agencies of long-term and specific competence. ¶H. Budget: - Consultant-researcher for 8 months: 43,000 - Translation and printing of the research book in 900 copies: 40,000 - Workshop in Rabat: 30,000 - Dissemination of research outcomes and research book distribution: 15,000 - Three four-day training courses in target areas: 15,000 - Mobility, logistics, transportation (pre-assessment, monitoring and evaluation missions, internal-external research trips): 30,000 - Project management and coordination: 45,500 - Overhead 5 percent: 11,500 Total in USD: 230,000 ¶I. Host Government Contribution: With the ongoing, fruitful collaboration with IOM, the Moroccan Ministry of Social Development, Family and Solidarity (Ministre du Dveloppement Social, de la Famille et de la Solidarit MDSFS - Entraide Nationale) will provide all the necessary administrative support and institutional collaboration require to conduct research and operational activities for this project. Local researchers will be identified in close cooperation with local partners and nd counterparts, and will participate in the activities detailed here. Local authorities will also contribute to the dissemination of the research outcomes through the organization of public meetings. Local Moroccan authorities will support all possible opportunities to raise awareness of irregular migration and trafficking of minors from/through/to Morocco. ¶J. Funding: ESF Funding through IOM ¶K. Mission Morocco POC: Labor/Political Officer Amy Wilson, U.S. Consulate General Casablanca, tel. 212-22-22-14-60 ext.235: fax. 212-22-29-91-36 ¶L. Other Donors: The "SALEM" project has been presented to the Italian Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The components to be financed by the Italian Government will entail the rehabilitation of existing local structures in identified areas of Morocco with a strong migratory prevalence towards Italy to devote assistance, protection, educational, psychosocial support and vocational training support to the target group. Such measures will require training for social workers and health-care providers working to assist and protect abandoned minors and victims of trafficking and smuggling, with particular attention toward the training of trainers, in order to build capacity and potential for sustainability at all levels. The program will be consolidated through a specifically tailored information campaign. Greene