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