TWO POLAND SUBMISSIONS FOR G/TIP-MANAGED FY 2007

UNCLAS WARSAW 000935 SIPDIS SIPDIS G/TIP FOR REBECCA BILLINGS AND AMY LEMAR-MEREDITH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG PL SUBJECT: TWO POLAND SUBMISSIONS FOR G/TIP-MANAGED FY 2007 ESF AND INCLE FUNDS REF: STATE 28153 ¶1. Two Polish NGOs prepared proposals for G/TIP funded projects in response to Reftel. Post has already submitted the full proposals for the projects to the G/TIP Programs Section regional officer for EUR. Summary information for each project follows: ¶2. PROJECT PROPOSAL ONE: COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN POLAND - NEW CHALLENGES -------------- -------------- Name: Zbigniew Lasocik, Professor of Law, Warsaw University Human Trafficking Studies Center Requested Funding Amount: $218,900 Project Name: Combating Human Trafficking in Poland - New Challenges Project Duration: 24 Months Proposal Abstract: The Combating Human Trafficking in Poland - New Challenges project will study new types of trafficking, advocate for legal changes to strengthen the definition of trafficking in Polish law, and train government officials to provide better service, It builds upon the Human Trafficking Studies Center's previous experience in combating modern day slavery and answers the most important questions of the day, including addressing changes in the types of trafficking. The project intends to carry out an integrated set of activities to solve problems in three main areas of interest: the effectiveness of the existing system to combat human trafficking; knowledge about all possible types of human trafficking victims; and special training for those assisting trafficking victims. The Project is designed in such a way that it offers very practical and effective tools to solve those most important problems. It will: ¶1. Study the situation of two groups of human trafficking victims we do not yet know very well in order to stop those types of trafficking and those categories of victims: --a. children, especially foreigners being transferred via Poland, and --b. male victims of forced labor. ¶2. Improve the effectiveness of the existing system. Two steps need to be taken: --a. The definition of human trafficking and lobbying for its introduction in the Polish criminal code so that prosecutors and judges have a better legal basis from which to operate; and --b. The establishment of a model of local cooperation and testing of the model at the national level. ¶3. Provide training to officials involved in the care and protection of victims based on new Polish legislation (Social Benefits Act, 2007). The groups to be trained are: --a. social workers, medical care workers, and local government employees; and --b. police officers, municipal guards and border guards. The team will implement the project over two years and will be composed of experienced experts from the Human Trafficking Studies Center in cooperation with key actors such as: Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Social Welfare, Polish Ombudsman, Police, Border Guards and numerous NGOs, including La Strada and Nobody,s Children Foundation. Our cooperation with all them is long lasting (three-four years) and very effective. All results of the project will be made available for Polish practitioners, published and put on our website. The project will last for two years, will involve a large group of experts from Poland and abroad, and will be implemented in close partnership with key state institutions, numerous local governments, all NGOs active in the human trafficking field, and universities. The total amount of the project is $218,900 (including fringe benefits and indirect costs). ¶3. PROJECT PROPOSAL TWO: NATIONAL REFERRAL CENTER FOR TRAFFICKED PERSONS -------------- -------------- Name: Stana Buchowska, Co-Founder and National Coordinator, La Strada Foundation Against Trafficking in Persons and Slavery Requested Funding Amount: $299,960.52 Project Name: National Referral Center for Trafficked Persons Project Duration: 11 Months Proposal Abstract: Trafficking in persons is a serious violation of human rights. In Poland, as in other European countries, it was recognized several years ago as a problem that deserves serious attention and action. Combating trafficking in persons requires a multidisciplinary and cross sector approach, involving all relevant actors from government and civil society. La Strada proposes to create a National Referral Center for Trafficked Persons to ensure that victims are properly and appropriately assisted. Anti-trafficking efforts in Poland date from 1995, and began with La Strada, which was the first anti-trafficking initiative all of Central and Eastern Europe. One of its achievements was the adoption by the Polish government of a National Action Program to Combat and Prevent Trafficking in Persons in Poland (National Action Program),a multidisciplinary and cross sector long-term strategy created in 2003. Even though the anti-trafficking measures implemented in Poland in the area of prevention, protection and prosecution of the crime of trafficking in persons are improving, there are still gaps that need to be addressed urgently. These include: --Insufficient coordination of assistance and support to trafficked persons; --Unsatisfactory identification of trafficking victims, especially by the law enforcement bodies. This is despite an existing legal framework and procedures to implement them; and --The lack of a comprehensive system on the national level regarding the referral of trafficking victims. The creation of an effective National Referral Center (NRC) can be a vital step in ensuring that the human rights of trafficked persons are protected. It will be a significant improvement in developing a new quality of protection and assistance to trafficked persons. A crucial prerequisite of effective anti-trafficking measures is the construction and strengthening of relevant local and national institutions that are sustainable mechanisms to combat human trafficking and support victims. The NRC will also provide guidance on how to monitor and build the capacity of such mechanisms and structures. It will foster contact and work among all key players of anti-trafficking field: law enforcement, NGOs, and other service providers who provide professional help and assistance to trafficked persons via telephone hotlines, a crisis intervention center, and a shelter for trafficked persons. All existing services and resources will be gathered in databases and trafficked persons who contact the NRC will be referred to appropriate specialized services. This effective infrastructure to combat trafficking in persons will work on the basis of a broad definition of trafficking in order to have the ability to respond rapidly to different forms of human trafficking. Support and protection services within the NRC will be accessible for all categories of trafficked persons, both domestic and migrant. La Strada, the first anti-trafficking initiative in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, will utilize its expertise and know how and will coordinate and maintain a wide network of law enforcement representatives, institutions of local and central government, different service providers throughout the Poland in the process of identification, assistance of trafficked persons. The NRC will gather information for a database of services and resources available, and will match the needs of trafficked persons with the assistance available. Until now, services for trafficking victims in Poland have been provided only by limited number of NGOs, local government institutions, and charity initiatives. At the same time, only a limited number of law enforcement representatives and other first-contact professionals knew how and where to refer a trafficked person. ASHE