FY06 ESF ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS PROJECT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 000208 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/RSA-MARINDA HARPOLE AND G/TIP-EDWARD FLOOD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KWMN KCRM ASEC ELAB SMIG CG SUBJECT: FY06 ESF ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS PROJECT PROPOSAL: DRC REF: 05 STATE 226696 ¶1. (U) Per reftel, Embassy Kinshasa is submitting the following proposed project and requests funding from FY2006 ESF Anti-Trafficking in Persons funds: ¶A. TITLE OF PROJECT Support to the Reintegration of Abductees and other Victims of Sexual Violence and Trafficking. ¶B. NAME OF RECIPIENT ORGANIZATION/GOVERNMENT AGENCY USAID will disburse to the International Rescue Committee and/or COOPI. ¶C. DURATION OF PROJECT 24 months (to be incrementally funded with 2007 TIP funds). This is a continuation of TIP and Victims of Torture Fund activities that support release and reintegration of abductees and victims of torture. The research component of the project (to increase the ability of NGOs and UN agencies to gain access to trafficking victims and facilitate their release and reintegration) has just begun. Current research activities will lend to improving the effectiveness of activities proposed below. ¶D. DESCRIPTION The goal of this project is to ensure the safe reintegration of women and girls, most of whom are trafficking victims, and some of whom were formerly child prostitutes, to their communities in Maniema, South Kivu, North Kivu, and Ituri and to prevent further abduction, trafficking, and sexual violence. This program will build on the current TIP program which is currently informing the development of these wider-scale reintegration programs for abductees, in parallel to the national Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Program. Unless the special needs of abductees, including many girls under the age of 18 are addressed, they risk remaining trafficking victims who are forced, in order to survive, to either turn to prostitution or continue to live with the soldiers who abducted them. Objective: Abductees and other victims of sexual violence and trafficking are identified and assisted with psychosocial support and reintegration into their communities or alternative communities. Activities: Sensitize and inform the communities through community meetings and radio programs on abduction and sexual violence and on services available to them. Gain access to militia, ex-militia, and FARDC troops in order to better understand the situation and location of girls who are or were formerly associated with armed groups and to organize sensitization sessions on sexual violence and on HIV-AIDS. In parallel to the DDR process, track girl abductees to ensure that they are not left behind and to ensure that they have choices to return to their communities or receive alternative reintegration assistance. Refer these girls to the transit center and the psychosocial support center in Bunia, Kpandroma, and other locations as appropriate. Ensure medical and surgical referral to girl survivors of abduction and to other survivors of sexual violence through other partners. Provide psychosocial support, including life skills training to girl abductees and to other vulnerable girls and women within the USAID-supported projects. Referral to other sexual violence projects for socioeconomic reintegration of these girls and women in their communities or in alternative communities through: professional skills training; group-based or individual income generating activities; and the creation and/or the reinforcement of community-based female support groups. Reinforce the capacity of these groups and of local groups who are working with female survivors of abduction and other sexual violence by increasing their skills to investigate, counsel, and report on trafficking in persons. Sensitize the communities at all levels on the reintegration of these girls, support and/or stimulate community efforts toward social reintegration and prevention of abduction, and organize sensitization sessions on sexual violence and on HIV-AIDS. Maintain a database of abductees and of other vulnerable girls and women to track their reintegration. To maximize impact, USAID/DRC will integrate activities regarding trafficking in persons with holistic activities for survivors of rape and sexual violence in eastern DRC in addition to activities within all five of its Strategic Objectives in the health, democracy/governance, livelihoods, education, and reintegration of ex-combatants (DDR). TIP funds will link directly to ongoing Victims of Torture-funded activities to ensure access to basic medical, psychosocial, judicial, and reinsertion services for victims of abduction and sexual violence through local NGOs with community-based activities. ¶E. JUSTIFICATION Armed conflict, widespread sexual violence, and socio-economic collapse have created an environment conducive to trafficking in people in the DRC. According to the Department of State, the DRC has been a source country for trafficked persons. Over the past nine years rebel forces and militias have abducted and forcibly recruited Congolese men, women, and children to serve as forced laborers, porters, combatants, and sex slaves in areas of the country under their control. Although the DRC is beginning a country-wide Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) program, the abductees in the armed groups have been excluded from the DDR process and risk remaining trafficking victims because they are either 1) left behind in the reintegration program and forced to turn to prostitution to survive or 2) continue to live as captives of soldiers in the integrated national army. Victims have been violently abused, raped, and traumatized by nearly all of the armies, militias, and gangs implicated in the conflict. Most of these crimes have been committed in 'front line' areas, especially in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, Maniema, northern Katanga, eastern Oriental, and in the northwestern province of Equateur. Prevention of sexual violence and trafficking in persons is closely linked to a successful political transition and DDR process. When the national political transition began in June 2003, cases of rape, violence, and abduction diminished noticeably as expectations were high that law and order would be restored. By November and December, however, various armed groups resumed attacks. Women who had felt safe enough to go back to work in agricultural fields (often with their children) were again victimized and abducted. Delays in the DDR process and ongoing pockets of fighting in the eastern provinces have thus led to retargeting of civilians. While cases begin to rise once again, there has been another surge in the number of cases of rape and abduction that are being reported, often by the national army (FARDC). It is essential to support the return and reintegration of abductees as the national DDR program gets underway during this crucial and fragile transition period. Certain practices common in eastern DRC, including the abduction of women for use as sex slaves, have left a profound impact on the mental and physical well-being of women, their families, and their communities. It has also increased the survivor's risk of having unwanted pregnancies and being exposed to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, due to the fact that barrier protection is never used. Despite the frequent nature of these atrocities, trafficking in persons continues to be perpetrated with little support for victims. The national DDR program targets military men and child soldiers but does not address the needs of dependents, many of whom are abductees and have since had children. It is essential that a parallel process to address the specific concerns of dependents takes place to ensure that they are able to reintegrate and are not left behind. Due to a lack of resources, the government is able to mount only a few victim protection efforts, instead relying heavily on non-governmental and international organizations. To date, support from international agencies for anti-trafficking programs has been minimal and no donors (with the exception of the US government through TIP) are currently addressing the problem of dependents and abductees in the DDR process, particularly during disarmament and demobilization. The use of sexual violence in Congo's war and the difficulty that Congolese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have faced in drawing attention and putting an end to these atrocities can be attributed to several factors: 1) The dramatic increase in the number of untrained, poorly paid, and barely supervised combatants in the DRC, coupled with few alternatives to carrying arms. 2) Many police and military, who should play a key role in ensuring the security of the population, are perpetrators of these sexually-based violent crimes. 3) Inaccessibility to abductees: the context in which sexual violence and abduction have occurred in the DRC makes it difficult to investigate or ensure effective action. These acts often occur in very remote, extremely insecure regions of the country. However, the DDR process is now beginning to provide a forum for accessing these victims where the initiative to do so is taken. With funds from the Victims of Torture Fund since 2002 and some funds from TIP in 2004, USAID/DRC has provided well-received medical, psychosocial, judicial, and socioeconomic support to over 39,000 survivors of sexual violence and trafficking. With FY 2005 TIP funds these activities were expanded to address the specific needs of women and girls who were abducted by armed groups. This program searches out abductees and ensures reintegration into their communities. Since a large part of the TIP activities focuses on research and awareness raising to gain access to abductees, the next larger step needs to be taken to implement recommendations from the research phase. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ¶F. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Objective: Abductees and other victims of sexual violence and trafficking are identified and assisted with psychosocial support and reintegration into their communities or alternative communities. Indicator: Number of dependents including abductees - Target 2006: 600 Target 2007: 400 TOTAL: 1000 Indicator: Number of dependents and abductees who are tracked and assisted through the DDR process with food, shelter, basic supplies, and access to health care - Target 2006: 500 Target 2007: 400 TOTAL: 900 Indicator: Number of dependents who are assisted to reintegrate into their former communities or alternative communities - Target 2006: 500 Target 2007: 400 TOTAL: 900 ¶G. EVALUATION PLAN USAID Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, along with Political Section of Embassy Kinshasa, will provide the AF Bureau and G/TIP with semi-annual updates. In addition, IRC and COOPI will provide USAID with quarterly updates. Also, USAID/DRC is in the process of developing an on-line M&E database for streamlining data collection across all partners throughout the country. ¶H. BUDGET BREAKOUT Personnel: 300,000 Transport: 60,000 Equipment: 30,000 Materials/Supplies: 50,000 Training: 20,000 Outreach: 30,000 Communications: 10,000 TOTAL: $500,000 ¶I. GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS The national DDR commission (CONADER) will help develop the human rights/anti-trafficking training program, which will be conducted at already existing demobilization centers and Centres de Brassage. ¶J. PROPOSED FUNDING MECHANISM Grant to NGO ¶K. EMBASSY POINT OF CONTACT: Tracy Naber (NaberTJ@state.gov IVG: 934-2620) MEECE