ANTI-TRAFFICKING SUCCESS STORY: FINAL REPORT ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 001475 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS G/TIP FOR MFORSTROM AF/S FOR MSHIELDS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM MZ SUBJECT: ANTI-TRAFFICKING SUCCESS STORY: FINAL REPORT ON FY05 ESF ASSISTANCE TO MOAMBA SHELTER REF: A. 06 MAPUTO 1056 ¶B. 06 STATE 57689 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) From July 2006 to July 2007 post allocated $12,000 in FY05 ESF funds to help start Mozambique's first shelter for victims of trafficking in persons. The majority of funds were used to furnish an onsite office, pay salaries, procure water, food, and medicines, and provide transport to and from the border with South Africa. The shelter opened in June 2006, and despite facing significant startup problems, achieved moderate success in finding screening for victims, providing shelter, food, and activities, providing psychological support, and assisting with reintegration. Prior to the conQn of the project and with a view to long-term sustainability, post introduced the NGO Save the Children-Norway (SCN) and the Peace Corps to the project and encouraged their participation. SCN subsequently Qcided to invest $250,000 over a four-year period, and the Peace Corps assigned a volunteer to work at the shelter for a two-year period. -------------- THE GRANT AND USE OF FUNDS -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Post signed a $12,000 FY05 ESF grant with the Institute for Civic Education (FECIV) to start the trafficking victims' shelter. FECIV did not have previous experience running a shelter, but received financial (approximately $25,000),managerial, and technical support from the German NGO, Terre des Hommes. ¶3. (SBU) USG funds were used to help finance the operational costs of the project for one year and can be broken down using the following categories: Equipment - $2,593 Nutrition, Medicine, Hygiene, Transport - $5,036 Communication, Office Materials - $1,213 Coordinator Salary - $2,850 -------------- CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS -------------- ¶4. (U) The shelter has space for up to 80 children, but has averaged approximately 10-15 per month, of which probably 2-5 could be positively identified as victims of trafficking; the remaining are victims of abuse, vulnerable orphans, or runaways. This can partly be explained by the fact that most government officials, and even some social workers, still do not have a firm understanding of what constitutes trafficking. On several visits to the shelter, the social worker related stories of resident children that described smuggling vice trafficking. This challenge will be difficult to overcome, but with the (USG-funded) anti-trafficking in persons law nearing approval in Mozambique's legislative assembly, the issue is being more widely acknowledged and understood by the general public. ¶5. (U) Another challenge involved logistics and changing assumptions. The project anticipated sending a representative to the border each week to meet trains carrying repatriated Mozambicans to screen for trafficking victims. However, within a few months it became evident that very few children were on the trains, and the Coordinator had to seek out alternative methods for finding trafficking victims. The project also envisioned partnering with local officials, border guards, and NGOs working on the border to screen for trafficking victims, but lack of reliable transport and communication kept the shelter a virtual secret during the early months. Post played an active role in finding a solution to this challenge by making several visits to the border and rekindling a relationship with a religious order active on the border, the Scalabrini Nuns. The nuns have run a shelter and school immediately on the border for a decade and have a strong relationship with the border guards. With a view to renewing a partnership between the shelter and the Scalabrinis, poloff encouraged USAID to direct $15,000 to the Scalabrinis foQoject to specifically screen for victims of trafficking and subsequently liaise with the Moamba shelter. This relieved the shelter from the MAPUTO 00001475 002 OF 003 burden of having to make arrangements to travel to the border and perform a function in which it had no previous experience. ¶6. (U) A final challenge involved staffing. The initial project called for a full-time project coordinator, psychologist, guard, cook, and social worker. In January 2007 post learned by chance that the project coordinator (who was based in Maputo) had resigned the previous November. Post approached the FECIV director and expressed serious concern, while advocating for the immediate hiring of an on-site coordinator and assistant, and provided technical assistance throughout the hiring process. The new coordinator has a degree in social work and lives in Moamba. Her creative energies and constant presence have made a noticeable difference in both the physical appearance of the shelter, the number of activities, and the overall morale of the children. -------------- PARTNERING WITH AN NGO -------------- ¶7. (U) After meeting the SCN representative during a courtesy call in January, poloff learned that SCN had a significant amount of money available for trafficking-related issues in Mozambique. Poloff spoke in detail about the shelter and encouraged SCN to become a partner. In April the Embassy organized a visit to the border and the shelter to better help SCN understand the situation on the ground and meet the relevant players. After recognizing that most of the initial setup for the shelter was in place (land, building, staff, food, partnership with Scalabrinis),SCN decided to make the shelter a pilot project as part of an overall project to place shelters for trafficking victims in all three regions of the country. SCN is providing $250,000 to the Moamba shelter over four years, with components for salaries, transport, new facilities, electricity, a well, food and medicine, etc). This represents more than a 1000 percent increase on our initial investment. -------------- PEACE CORPS ENSURES U.S. PRESENCE -------------- ¶8. (U) Following a January visit to a trafficking shelter (considered a model for Southern Africa) in Malelane, South Africa, post learned that the shelter had utilized several Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) during its first few years of operation. With this in mind, poloff approached the Peace Corps director in Maputo to inquire about the possibility of placing a PCV at the Moamba shelter. Post again organized visits to the border and shelter as well as with SCN to provide a broad overview about the trafficking situation and the Moamba shelter in particular. As a result, in December the Peace Corps assigned a PCV to the shelter for a two-year period to assist in organizing activities for and helping reintegrate the children. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Despite experiencing early growing pains, careful monitoring and immediate intervention by post has helped to not only sustain the shelter but also involve actors with the capacity to take the operations to the next level. In particular, the hiring of a new coordinator, the renewed partnership with the Scalabrini nuns, and the involvement of SCN and a PCV should ensure that the Moamba shelter will be equipped to provide all necessary assistance to trafficking victims in Mozambique for many years to come, while ensuring important continuing USG presence. A successful Moamba project will also mean that SCN would later open shelters in the central and northern parts of the country. With the anticipated passage of a new anti-trafficking in persons law in 2008, a remaining overall challenge will be the further education of government actors, such as police, border guards, and other immigration officials as to what constitutes trafficking and how to deal with trafficking cases. Post notes that the initial small ESF investment has resulted in significant dividends with international and USG partners to help victims of trafficking at the border, and believes that further ESF funding to address this concern would be money well spent. MAPUTO 00001475 003 OF 003 Chapman