EMBASSY NICOSIA, CYPRIOT NGO ANTI-TRAFFICKING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000881 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP, EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL TIP KCRM KWMN CY SUBJECT: EMBASSY NICOSIA, CYPRIOT NGO ANTI-TRAFFICKING EFFORTS GAINING TRACTION ¶1. SUMMARY: In addressing the grave problem of trafficking in persons in Cyprus, Embassy Nicosia has adopted a multi-pronged, multi-sector strategy that leverages the efforts of our Bicommunal Support Program (BSP),Public Affairs Section (PAS),USAID mission, Political Section (POL),and Regional Security Office (RSO). As part of this effort, the Embassy has launched an intra-embassy TIP team and a working group composed of representatives from this and other resident diplomatic missions, and has increased outreach to the Cypriot Ministry of Interior (MOI),the government's anti-trafficking coordinator. Cypriot NGOs have started to cooperate amongst themselves and build links to international anti-TIP initiatives and organizations such as La Strada and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Moreover, they are reaching across the Green Line to build bicommunal relationships. The GOC has demonstrated its support of civil society initiatives by contributing funds towards a demand-reduction public awareness campaign, previously a weak spot in the official anti-TIP campaign. END SUMMARY ¶2. TIP Team: U.S. Embassy Nicosia has launched a 13-person TIP Team, featuring BSP, RSO, POL, PAS and USAID members, to collaborate on TIP-related issues. They have brainstormed a training plan for combating TIP in the north, coordinated outreach to police in the government-controlled area, and are speaking out on TIP to varied Cypriot audiences. ¶3. Inter-mission Working Group: The Ambassador kicked off the effort to launch a multi-embassy working group by hosting a reception for TIP team members, representatives of several Cypriot ministries, and officials from the international diplomatic community. All voiced commitment to help combat trafficking and shared ideas in an informal setting. POL will host follow-up meetings at regular intervals while also urging the GOC to establish its own interagency team (Note: Cyprus's new anti-trafficking law directs the Ministry of Interior to coordinate a working group among the different Cypriot ministries with anti-TIP equities.) ¶4. Outreach to Cypriot Ministry of Interior and Help with Launch of a PR Campaign: Two MOI officials dealing with TIP revealed that the Ministry was eager to partner more closely with other institutions, including Cypriot NGOs. When asked about the launch of a demand-reduction campaign -- a key element in Cyprus's anti-TIP national action plan -- they claimed that one of the major roadblocks to launching the PR campaign was a lack of knowledge on media operations and pricing. The Embassy has offered to put them in contact with staff at MTV with first-hand familiarity of the network's previous anti-TIP initiatives (MTV's affiliated charity, The MTV Europe Foundation, maintains a library of English-language TIP material, including documentaries, films and public service announcements.) Additionally, the Embassy will introduce the MOI authorities to its regular media and public relations contacts. ¶5. BSP Programmatic Efforts: Since the fall of 2006, the Embassy's ESF-funded Bicommunal Support Program has been financing capacity-building for Greek Cypriot (G/C) and Turkish Cypriot (T/C) NGOs combating trafficking in women in Cyprus for the purpose of exploitation in the commercial sex industry. For example, BSP, in conjunction with Washington-based capacity-building organization PACT, conducted a workshop and hosted IOM and La Strada representatives to network and collaborate with local NGOs. This initiative has made significant inroads recently in establishing inter- and intra-communal efforts to combat TIP by helping NGOs pool resources, map core competencies, hone communication, and bolster financial management and fundraising skills. As a result, Cypriot NGOs have started to cooperate amongst themselves and build links to international anti-TIP organizations such as La Strada, STOP International and the aforementioned IOM. ¶6. In addition, eight Cypriot NGOs have received awards from BSP's Small Grants Program to support their island-wide anti-trafficking efforts. BSP awarded a grant to a leading T/C researcher, Mine Yucel, to conduct a study comparing the legal frameworks of the EU and the Turkish Cypriot community, where there is no anti-TIP "legislation" in place. T/C authorities already have expressed serious interest in her work. Yucel is working in tandem with a G/C social scientist who has also received BSP funding to evaluate the framework of the GOC's new anti-TIP legislation in relation to other EU countries' laws. ¶7. Five Cypriot NGOs have received discrete awards from BSP NICOSIA 00000881 002 OF 002 to launch an island-wide public awareness campaign in both communities featuring a single logo -- no small achievement in divided Cyprus. The campaign will launch on Human Rights Day, December 10, and the Ministry of Justice has contributed $10,000 and additional in-kind contributions for the G/C portion of the campaign. Finally, the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS),in collaboration with the Turkish Cypriot Association of University Women, is coordinating a bicommunal project that aims to increase gender awareness and knowledge among Cypriot NGOs working to combat TIP. ¶8. Comment: Several years of effort to build capacity in civil society for combating TIP appear to be bearing fruit, and we envision these NGOs becoming an effective lever that promotes greater GOC action. The same goes for the inter-embassy working group; for too long, only the USG has truly pressured the government over trafficking, although the European Union and its member states lately have come on board. The ultimate anti-TIP weapon is the GOC itself, of course. Via our varied Embassy efforts, we hope both to cement the government's political will to fight trafficking and augment its working-level abilities to do so. SCHLICHER