FY 2007 ESF PROPOSAL: "PROJECT RESPECT" TO RAISE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000436

SIPDIS

FOR G/TIP, INL/HSTC, AND NEA/ARPI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KCRM SMIG ELAB EAID KU TIP
SUBJECT: FY 2007 ESF PROPOSAL: "PROJECT RESPECT" TO RAISE
AWARENESS OF TIP AMONG KUWAITI EMPLOYERS

REF: KUWAIT 262


1. Embassy Kuwait requests ESF funding for an
anti-Trafficking in Persons (TIP) campaign targeted primarily
at increasing protection for East and South Asian workers,
the most vulnerable labor communities in Kuwait. Project
RESPECT (Reaching Employers and Sponsors to Prevent and End
Crimes of Trafficking) would increase public awareness of
trafficking and labor exploitation in Kuwait, a destination
country, and also inform employers of their responsibilities
and obligations under Kuwaiti law. The principal objective
of the program is prevention, though it will touch on
prosecution as well.


2. There is a justified need for an anti-trafficking
campaign in Kuwait. Kuwait was designated a tier 3 country
in the 2005 Trafficking in Persons report. Since the
report's release, the GOK has made efforts to protect
workers, sanction those who exploit the expatriate labor
population, and strengthen the implementation of existing
laws as well as adopt new ones. Despite Government and media
attention to the issue, there remains a large population that
is ignorant of the plight of expatriate workers.


3. During Post's regular bilateral meetings and roundtable
discussions (ref A),source country Labor Officers gave
unanimous support to projects aimed at increasing the
awareness of Kuwaiti employers to the rights of their
employees. While the Kuwaiti Government has made official
advances to improve the situation of domestic workers, much
of the labor abuse that occurs in Kuwait is in the domestic
sector, where employers can act with impunity behind closed
doors. It is therefore essential to change Kuwaiti
employers' ideas about the acceptable treatment of their
employees who represent the largest portion of the workforce.


4. Project RESPECT would finance the production and
dissemination of several short public service announcements
(PSAs) highlighting the problem of labor exploitation in
Kuwait. The PSAs would run in movie theaters before the
featured film. The PSAs would thereby gain widespread
exposure since Kuwait has 14 operating cinemas (an additional
six are under construction),with a total of over 30,000
seats. Kuwaiti theaters sell millions of tickets each year.
RESPECT is a new program, however, it would maintain the
momentum of Project FALCon, an FY 2006 program administered
by Post to educate the resident expatriate work force and
raise awareness among potential trafficking victims.


5. Post would contract with CineMagic
(http://www.cinemagics.tv),a local production agency, to
produce the spots in both English and Arabic. CineMagic was
an FY2005 recipient of a Middle East Partnership Initiative
(MEPI) small grant to train underprivileged Kuwaiti youth in
film production. The students have not only developed a
skill, but learned about the importance of teamwork and
community involvement as they wrote, directed, filmed, and
produced PSAs on social and health issues. Ideally,
graduates of the program would play a key role in Project
RESPECT thereby addressing a TIP issue and also contributing
to the Freedom Agenda. Post would also be involved in the
production process to insure that the content reflected the
appropriate message. Post and CineMagic would also
coordinate with the Kuwait National Cinema Company
(http://www.kncc.com) to have the spots aired. Post will
maintain a low public profile in order to ensure that the
public face of Project RESPECT remains Kuwaiti.


6. Project evaluation would consist of contacting the
embassies of source countries in Kuwait to monitor any
decrease in reports of trafficking or abuse. Post will
further monitor the project's effectiveness by seeking the
same information from Kuwaiti ministries, police, and courts.
Post will conduct an informal assessment by monitoring SMS
traffic and web logs (blogs),popular vehicles for
disseminating information and sharing opinions. Post will
review progress after one month of project implementation and
every three months thereafter. Since statistics from Kuwaiti
ministries or origin country embassies may not be accurate or
shared fully with Post, it may not be possible to measure
project performance precisely although Post anticipates an
initial uptick in reports of trafficking and abuse, and a
decrease in the number of domestics seeking shelter at their
embassies as the working population and their employers
become more informed. Embassy contact, poloff Mark
Rosenshield (RosenshieldMS@state.gov),will follow up with
these organizations.


7. The estimated cost for Project RESPECT is $100,000.
Production of five PSAs would cost $80,000, with
approximately 20% of the cost for pre-production, 60% for
production, and 20% for post-production. Outputting the PSAs
onto film for distribution, in addition to DVD and streaming
formats, would cost $20,000. Post would cooperate with the
Government of Kuwait to secure screen time for the
announcements at popular movie theaters. There are no other
proposed funding donors aside from ESF.

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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/index. cfm?cables

Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
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LeBaron