SENEGAL: FY-2007 ESF AND INCLE PROJECT PROPOSALS

UNCLAS DAKAR 000871

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP, INL/AAE, AF/RSA AND AF/W
ACCRA FOR USAID/WA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ASEC ELAB KCRM SMIG SG
SUBJECT: SENEGAL: FY-2007 ESF AND INCLE PROJECT PROPOSALS
TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

REF: A. STATE 028157


B. DAKAR 0869

C. DAKAR 0297

SUMMARY
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1. Embassy Dakar is pleased to submit four project proposals
to strengthen and expand Senegal's commitment to combat
trafficking in persons (TIP). The proposals, listed in order
of funding priority, would provide training in trafficking
for law enforcement and health officials, give social
assistance to vulnerable populations in the eastern Casamance
along the border with Guinea-Bissau, provide legal counsel to
women and child victims of violence, educate vulnerable women
about the menace of trafficking, and help Senegal to advance
from Tier 2 to Tier 1. END SUMMARY.

PROPOSAL ONE: CENTER FOR JUDICIAL TRAINING
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2. The Center for Judicial Training (CFJ) would use INCLE
funding to train policemen, gendarmes, customs officers,
psychiatric hospitals, social assistants and others combating
trafficking and helping children. CFJ asks for up to USD
250,000 to fund a three-year project. It would develop and
promote strategies for judicial protection of young children
through training on the functioning of the judicial system.
It would begin by holding three national training sessions
for 50 people (USD 180,000),and then expand with two large
sessions for the West Africa region. The CFJ was created in
1995 under the Justice Ministry to train Senegalese and
regional magistrates, lawyers, bailiffs and court clerks.


3. Performance indicators include: a) number of
professionals trained; b) numbers of juveniles arrested and
sentenced; and c) number of texts adopted (in countries of
the region with no specific legislation). Follow-up would be
conducted annually. Meanwhile, the CJT would contribute
expertise, personnel, facilities and an already established
partnership with police, schools, social workers and child
psychologists.

PROPOSAL TWO: CARITAS IN KOLDA
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4. Caritas requests USD 75,000 in ESF funds to conduct
anti-trafficking training for security forces, police,
customs officers, magistrates, local authorities, religious
leaders and forest agents in the southern region of Kolda.
Located in the eastern Casamance, Kolda receives those
fleeing from rebellion-created distress in the
Ziguinchor/West Casamance region and from poverty and chronic
instability in Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry. CARITAS
would draw on experience in peace-building to target likely
trafficking victims including illiterate and unemployed
adolescents previously involved in conflict, as well as those
most likely to engage in trafficking for profit.


5. Key performance indicators are: a) one training session
for CARITAS' own committee members, b) one session for
security forces; c) 20 village-level presentations; c) five
presentations for relevant authorities, and, e) holding of
meetings in the "bush" to make sure that all young people
have birth certificates and can therefore be identified at
all times. Evaluation would be done by a committee composed
of government representatives, village chiefs, a magistrate,
a trafficking victim and a member of the security forces. A
CARITAS representative would head the committee. There would
be a report of activity every four months and an annual
program evaluation.

PROPOSAL THREE: ASSOCIATION OF SENEGALESE LAWYERS
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6. The Association of Senegalese Lawyers (AJS) requests USD
125,000 in ESF or INCLE funds for a 12-month project to
insure that relevant laws are known and effectively applied.
The proposal would contribute to prevention of trafficking,
conviction and prosecution of traffickers, and protection and
rehabiliation of victims. It targets women and child victims
of violence or of trafficking who are preparing to appear in
court. AJS would create counseling centers in four of
Senegal's regions to educate and support women and child
victims of trafficking. AJS would also publish a newsletter
to discuss women's and children's rights, enabling it to
reach a larger population in remote areas.


7. Performance indicators would include: a) number of women
and children assisted in judicial procedures, and b)
percentage of women and children helped among all those
involved in court cases. There would be follow-up
evaluations and written reports every six months.


PROPOSAL FOUR: AWA
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8. AWA (Eve) requests USD 82,500 in ESF funds to conduct a
yearlong awareness campaign against trafficking of women and
girls, and to teach them alternative skills such as cooking,
sewing and farming. It would use its extensive experience
and well-developed networks among vulnerable women, including
its work to reintegrate former prostitutes, to deal with the
threat of trafficking. AWA is a non-profit organization
created in 1996 and working principally with HIV/AIDS
victims, mainly young girls and children.


9. Performance indicators for AWA would include: a)
organization of a workshop for 50 women/girls to raise
trafficking awareness, b) hold two mass meetings of 3,000
people in Dakar and Rufisque, and up to 100 smaller sessions
in Dakar and Louga, c) two training seminars in management
and entrepreneurship for women; and d) 50-100 girls saved
from trafficking. Project evaluation would be coordinated by
a team of social workers, an accountant, two lawyers and a
psychologist, and would consist of monthly visits throughout
Dakar and Louga.

COMMENT
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10. Since Senegal was placed on the TIP Tier 2 Watch List in

2004, the country has made enormous progress, passing TIP
legislation in 2005 and beginning to use it in 2006. Public
awareness of TIP has increased, and TIP grants have made a
significant impact. The above proposals are only a fraction
of the worthwhile ideas suggested to us by Senegalese civil
society and by the Government. END COMMENT.

EMBASSY POINT OF CONTACT
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11. For further information on these projects and any
others, contact Political Officer Osman Tat at (221)
823-4296, ext. 2420.
JACKSON