SUMMARY OF G/TIP SMALL GRANTS PROJECT OUTCOMES

UNCLAS KIGALI 001115 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP: AMY LEMAR, MARK FORSTROM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV RW SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF G/TIP SMALL GRANTS PROJECT OUTCOMES REF: SECSTATE 206165 05 ¶1. (U) Embassy Kigali welcomed the opportunity to use FY 2005 Economic Support Funds (ESF) for anti-trafficking in persons projects, and submits the following summary of project outcomes. (Note: Final narrative project reports have been submitted to G/TIP via e-mail. End note.) -------------- International Rescue Committee -------------- ¶2. (U) The International Rescue Committee used ESF to support a local NGO, the Street Ahead Children's Center Association (SACCA) to implement community reintegration activities for street children, and pilot a community-based prevention and response family/child separation project. The project's primary objective was to provide support to five existing residential centers for vulnerable children, to set up a third center for vulnerable girls, and to support related outreach, reintegration and independent living programs. This was successfully achieved, with existing centers receiving support and a new center for girls being built. At the start of the project, 89 children were identified for reintegration, 80 of whom were successfully reintegrated into their families or taken into residential care. During the project, several other children were identified and successfully reintegrated. The second objective of the project was to implement two "prevention of separation" projects in rural communities and to develop linkages with community groups, civil society and local government to address the problem of street children. This phase was also generally successful. Prevention committees composed of community members, community-based social workers, and children were formed in the two targeted areas and members were trained by the SACCA prevention team. They then worked to identify vulnerable children and families and provide them with assistance. An income-generating project was developed to sustain prevention activities. The project was not able to develop a sustained prevention mechanism linking prevention committees and local and provincial governments, but did assist families and youth and began to establish connections between groups. -------------- Sharing Rwanda -------------- ¶3. (U) The local NGO Sharing Rwanda received ESF for its project, "Combating Human Trafficking Through Sensitization and Capacity Building for Victims and the Community." The project had two objectives - prevention of trafficking through sensitization and education of citizens, and counseling and capacity building for trafficking victims - and was focused in the Gikondo sector of Kigali. The first objective was achieved through the collection of data on 150 former child prostitutes and the creation and broadcast of 12 radio programs focusing on trafficking-related topics. The second objective was met through the provision of counseling for the 150 children over eight months, and through training programs for the youth in the production of various goods, in agricultural techniques, and nutrition. The children set up an income-generating project making and selling soap. Sharing Rwanda monitored, evaluated, and reported on these activities throughout the duration of the program, and the outcome was positive. The 150 former child prostitutes and their 17 children are being reintegrated into the community. The life skills they have developed and the income they earn from their business have reduced their vulnerability to falling back into prostitution. ARIETTI