AZERBAIJAN'S PROPOSALSFOR TIP SOLICITATION FOR

UNCLAS BAKU 000479 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP PROGRAMS COORDINATOR REBECCA BILLINGS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG AJ SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN'S PROPOSALSFOR TIP SOLICITATION FOR G/TIP-MANAGED FY 2007 EF AND INCLE FUNDS REF: STATE 28153 ¶1. Per retel, we are pleased to submit five proposals for consideration for the G/TIP-Managed FY 2007 ESF and INCLE funds. The Embassy's TIP team - comprised of Poloff, Resident Legal Advisor, Senior Law Enforcement Advisor, and Pol FSN - reviewed all received proposals, and determined these to be the strongest. We have rank-ordered these proposals (starting with the strongest) and provided the requested summary information and our comments below. We believe that each proposal on its own would well-complement our current anti-TIP efforts, and several - particularly the top three - would be quite effective together. The complete proposals will be sent separately via e-mail. (Note: The proposals from local NGOs are not written in the best English, but we believe that both organizations have a clear understanding of the problem and the capacity to carry out their proposed projects.) ABA/FJE -------------- ¶2. Name of applicant: The American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education (ABA/FJE) Requested funding amount: $292,522 (federal share) Project title: Azerbaijan TIP Proposal: Building Capacity and Enhancing Cooperation on Prosecution and Victim Protection and Assistance Project duration: 12 months Proposal abstract: The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA),through its office in Baku, Azerbaijan, proposes to strengthen the legal response to trafficking in persons and to enhance cooperation among the myriad of actors currently working to eradicate this widespread problem. ABA firmly believes that legal knowledge and expertise, and more importantly, the appropriate application of the law, are fundamental elements to an effective anti-trafficking strategy. ABA also believes that technical assistance focusing on legal issues in combination with an emphasis on building cooperation, will contribute to improving Azerbaijan's victim protection services. The overarching goal of ABA's anti trafficking project is to build local expertise and capacity and enhance cooperation on prosecution and victim protection and assistance. ABA's anti-trafficking project will take a three-pronged approach: (i) training and education for legal professionals (judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and law enforcement personnel; (ii) training for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on prevention and protection issues; and (iii) strengthening justice sector and NGO cooperation on anti-trafficking issues. ABA proposes a one-year project in the amount of $292,522 to build the foundation for a more effective and coordinated legal response to trafficking throughout Azerbaijan. ¶3. COMMENT: We have worked extensively with the ABA Baku office in several capacities, including through their DRL-funded Legal Advocacy Center and their DOJ-funded Criminal Law Liaison. ABA Baku is also a major USAID implementing partner, and through USAID funding worked on anti-TIP issues through the end of 2006. (NOTE: ABA Baku's current USAID funding does not provide for anti-TIP activities). We have been very impressed by their work, and based on this experience we are confident that they have the capacity to carry out this project in an outstanding manner. ABA Baku staff are well-organized, cooperative, and energetic, and have a wide range of contacts throughout Azerbaijan. This proposal targets three areas that remain weak in Azerbaijan, and this work would nicely complement our current anti-TIP activities. PROJECT HARMONY -------------- ¶4. Name of applicant: Project Harmony, Inc. Requested funding amount: $180,851 (federal share) Project title: Azerbaijan Trafficking Awareness Project Project duration: 12 months Proposal abstrct: According to the US Department of State's 206 Interim Trafficking Assessment of Azerbaijan, while the government of Azerbaijan has taken some steps to combat trafficking in persons, such as passing anti-trafficking legislation and corresponding criminal code amendments, key efforts and results in victim protection and implementation remain lacking. For the first time in 2004, Azerbaijani consular officers began to report potential trafficking cases to international organizations. The government targeted prevention efforts at populations vulnerable to being trafficked and funded the construction of permanent housing for internally displaced persons. In October 2005, the government adopted important criminal code amendments to its anti-trafficking legislation. Given these steps forward in combating trafficking, particularly among the most vulnerable population of rural women and children, a comprehensive initiative to increase awareness of trafficking in Azerbaijan is imperative. Project Harmony proposes the Azerbaijan Trafficking Awareness Project (AZ-TAP) to reach out using multiple strategies, venues, and media to ensure that those most vulnerable to trafficking in Azerbaijan are aware of the dangers and how to prevent being victimized. The activities proposed in this high-profile project will address three priorities: Direct General Public Awareness Efforts - Coordinated media campaign, including national and local print publications. - Grassroots media efforts through Azerbaijani schools, including essay contest for all Azerbaijani youth. Targeted Awareness and Asset Building Among Vulnerable Groups - Help centers and awareness materials specifically for rural women and children. - Partnership with Azerbaijani orphanages to implement work and educational program for those aging out of the system, reducing their risk of victimization. Capacity Building for Azerbaijani and International Anti-Trafficking Nonprofits - Professional Training provided for regional partners or anti-trafficking NGOs. - State-wide conference to bring together current leaders in the field and consolidate efforts across the issue. As a consequence of these prevention efforts, we expect to achieve the following results: - An increased awareness of how to avoid victimization among those most likely to become targets of traffickers; - An increased awareness of the problem of trafficking among the general public, leading to increased reporting of trafficking activities and traffickers; and - A more coordinated anti-trafficking effort among organizations throughout Azerbaijan. ¶5. COMMENT: We have worked with Project Harmony on many projects, including several related to civil society capacity building and a school-connectivity program that provided computer and internet activity to 72 schools. We were very pleased with their work, and believe they have the capacity and the right attitude to contribute highly to international anti-TIP efforts here - an arena in which there is certainly room for more players. Project Harmony staff are professional and have great relationships with students and teachers throughout the country. The overall lack of public awareness of TIP in Azerbaijan remains an obstacle to the government's anti-TIP efforts, and Project Harmony's proposal - including both general public awareness efforts and targeted efforts among vulnerable groups - demonstrates a clear understanding of what needs to be done. AZERBAIJAN LAWYERS FORUM -------------- ¶6. Name of applicant: Azerbaijan Lawyers Forum Requested funding amount: $82,985 (federal share) Project title: The Struggle Against Human Trafficking: Training, Professional, and Long-term Legal Assistance and Enlightening Project duration: Twelve months Proposal abstract: The Azerbaijan Lawyers forum considers that there are serious problems in the field of the struggle against the human trafficking. Strengthening the struggle against human trafficking necessitates the involvement of lawyers, investigators, the NGO representatives to the first group and the employees of the Ministry of Transportation to the second group to the trainings, rendering of sustainable legal assistance to the victims within a year and conducting of enlightening works using the advertising rolls and booklets in the airplanes, trains, taxis and buses. To prevent the described problem, ALF has the following purposes: - To involve the investigators, judges, lawyers and NGOs trainers to the trainings specialized in the struggle against human trafficking and increase their professional level. - To involve the employees of the corresponding institutions attached to the Ministry of Transportation of Azerbaijan Republic, as well as Azal airlines, the Railway Station, the port, bus stations and taxi parks, through them to use the persons working in the railway sector and having regular contacts with victims of human trafficking in order to determine and inform victims; - To provide information about the necessity of appealing of the victims what state authority and what NGO. - To provide rendering of high quality legal assistance to the revealed human trafficking victims. To achieve these purposes, ALF is planning the following activities: - To organize the working group with participation of representatives of the Ministry of Labor and the Social Protection of the Population, Transport of Azerbaijan Republic, the Administration of Struggle against Human Traffic under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Confederation of Trade Unions, the national NGOs, the International Labor Organization and the International Organization for Migration; - To provide the employees of the state authorities fighting against the human trafficking with the international agreements seconded Azerbaijan Republic and the appropriate legislative acts of Azerbaijan Republic (documents translated into the Azerbaijani language)' - To provide the third parties with the booklets within the framework of information campaign; - To translate the recommendations of the international organizations into the Azerbaijani language; - To place the advertising rolls related to the struggle against human trafficking in the electronic mass media and distribution of booklets. The execution of indicated directions will have exceptional significance in determination of the human trafficking victims, indemnification of damages caused to them, preparation of professional lawyers for defending of the rights of the victims, studying of the effective international norms and the national legislation in the field of the struggle against the victims of human trafficking of the employees of law enforcement bodies. ¶7. COMMENT: ALF has extensive experience assisting victims of trafficking, providing excellent legal analysis, and conducting and publishing research on trafficking and migration. In addition, we believe that expanding the role of local NGOs in the fight against trafficking is critical to further overall anti-TIP efforts in Azerbaijan. ALF has the capacity and the right contact base to implement this proposal well. CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES -------------- ¶8. Name of applicant: Catholic Relief Services-USCCB Requested funding amount: $335,342 (federal share); $82,555 (non-federal share) Project title: Local Initiatives to Fight Trafficking Project duration: Twenty-four months Proposal abstract: In Azerbaijan, trafficking in persons is an insidious problem that increasingly threatens its citizens. The issue is particularly grim in Azerbaijan's outlying regions, where dire socio-economic conditions, limited access to information about trafficking threats, and lack of support from local law enforcement, government, and NGOs, leave communities at risk. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and local partners will implement the Local Initiatives to Fight Trafficking (LIFT) Project in twelve regions of Azerbaijan over twenty-four months. CRS will use a multi-disciplinary plan, with two focused strategic directions - building awareness and improving coordination at all levels of the targeted regions. The project's commitment and awareness-building will target youth, parents, unemployed men, local NGOs and other community stakeholders, while the project's coordination component will foster working relationships between the targeted local NGOs, local government structures and other community stakeholders. As a result of the LIFT project, citizens of Azerbaijan's outlying regions and its regional authorities will have increased levels of awareness of trafficking threats to their communities - with particular attention to the oft-neglected issues of trafficking of children and men for forced labor. They also will acquire tools to address trafficking within their communities through increased cooperation between local NGOs, local government offices, and a wide-range of community stakeholders. In parallel, a corps of local anti-trafficking NGOs will acquire genuine collaborative network experience which will contribute to the longer-term sustainability of Azerbaijan's TIP NGO network. ¶9. COMMENT: We have not worked with CRS in Azerbaijan; however, we believe that their proposal is solid and demonstrates a clear understanding of the on-ground situation. We have had experience with CRS' chosen local partner NGO, Azerbaijan Young Lawyers Union (AYLU),through projects funded by our Democracy Commission Small Grants Program. AYLU has demonstrated great capacity and enthusiasm in their work on these projects, and we are confident that they could effectively carry out their portion of this proposed project. FANGOM -------------- ¶10. Name of applicant: Forum of Azerbaijani NGOs on Migration Issues Requested funding amount: $18,680 (federal share) Project title: Preventing Human Trafficking through Public Awareness and Civic Education Campaigns Project duration: Nine months Proposal abstract: Trafficking in persons spread in the world appeared in Azerbaijan as well. Country citizens, women and young girls, teenagers and men are exposed to illegal transportation, which causes them to become victims of trafficking. Hundreds of facts regarding this have found their reflection in the official documents and reports of various international, national organizations and state structures. It is clear from the review of these documents and reports that the scale of the problem increases from day to day. Growth of the scale of human trafficking with such a fast speed indicates that the counteraction implemented against human trafficking is not based on any conceptual approach in many cases, is not conducted at sufficient level and is not effective and detected facts do not help to solve the problem from its root. Continuation of such a situation identifies the needs of this project. These needs are related with preparation of the report on human trafficking, including of information on current situation relating to human trafficking in Azerbaijan and combating conducted with human trafficking in the country in recent years in proposed report, those potential people who suffer from unemployment and who can face up with this social problem, implementation of awareness campaign among needy layers of the population and conduction awareness-raising trainings for NGO and mass media representatives who combat with human trafficking. Collection of information, conduction of meetings with focus groups, preparation of detailed report on human trafficking, organization of seminars with participation of project beneficiaries, preparation of strategy which serves to eliminate the problem in Azerbaijan in future and other activities will be implemented in order to provide enumerated project needs. After the project implementation, the following results will be achieved. Thus, the report reflecting the activities, successes and shortages of the combating with human trafficking implemented during the last 10 years in Azerbaijan will be prepared and sent to the parties which combat trafficking in persons. Interactive presentation on various parties, significant components and perspectives of the trafficking in persons problem will be prepared. 1000 booklets dedicated to combat trafficking in persons under the title "What we have to know for not being a victim of human trafficking?" will be published and distributed among project beneficiaries and potential victims of human trafficking. 3000 (on three topics, each of the will be 1000) fact sheets which reflect information on human trafficking, the disasters coming from this problem as well as minimum information on human transportation with the purpose of sexual and labor exploitation will be published and distributed. 10 seminars will be held in Baku, Ganja and Lenkoran with participation of young people from low income families, suffering from unemployment and wanting to go to other countries for working and awareness of at least 500 people will be raised through these seminars. Monthly information sessions (6 information sessions) will be conducted for NGO and mass media representatives who combat trafficking in human beings and 100 people participated in the sessions will be provided with necessary knowledge. Strategy will be prepared in order to conduct struggle against human trafficking in future more effectively, program proposal will be suggested on this. At the end of the project, presentation will be held dedicated to results and achievements of the project. Likely, the number of direct beneficiaries of the project will be 600 and the number of indirect beneficiaries will be more than 1000 people. ¶11. COMMENT: FANGOM is the predominant local NGO on labor trafficking issues. It has traditionally been focused on research, but we believe it has the capacity to expand these efforts through this project. FANGOM's network of organizations throughout the country would also help with the implementation of this project. As stated above, we believe that expanding the role of local NGOs in anti-TIP work is essential to further progress in combating trafficking in Azerbaijan. DERSE