PROPOSAL FOR G/TIP-MANAGED FY08 ESF AND INCLE FUNDS

UNCLAS ASUNCION 000097 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR G/TIP KBRESNAHAN, WHA/BSC KREAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG BR AR PA SUBJECT: PROPOSAL FOR G/TIP-MANAGED FY08 ESF AND INCLE FUNDS REF: STATE 161287 ¶1. (U) Embassy Asuncion submits the following anti-trafficking in persons (TIP) proposal for FY 2008 ESF and INCLE funding (reftel). This proposal details the second phase of an IOM project funded by G/TIP in 2006 and completed in July 2007. Cynthia Bendlin, WHA winner of the 2008 Secretary's Award for International Women of Courage, SIPDIS coordinated the project's first phase and will coordinate this phase. Posts strongly urge G/TIP to consider carefully this project for ESF or INCLE funding in order to enhance efforts to combat TIP in the Tri-Border Area (TBA),where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet. G/TIP funding for this project would be the only funding Paraguay will receive in FY ¶2008. ¶2. (U) The project's summary information is as follows: ¶A. Name of applicant: Eugenio Ambrossi, Director, International Organization for Migration (IOM). ¶B. Requested funding amount: USD 269,808 (federal funding only). ¶C. Project title: Program for Integral Assistance to Trafficking in Persons Victims of the Tri-Border Area between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. ¶D. Project duration: 12 months. ¶E. Proposal abstract: -- The main objective of this project is to contribute to the prevention of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and to strengthen counter-trafficking networks in the Tri-Border Area in the Southern Cone of South America (Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay). This project will provide medical, psychological, legal, and labor reinsertion assistance to victims of trafficking in persons (TIP) in the TBA. -- This regional project is based on an ongoing project implemented by the IOM's Mission with a Regional Function (MRF) Conosur, on the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons in the TBA, that included the creation of a tri-national counter-trafficking network. Members of this network consider operational strengthening vital to accelerating an articulated response to TIP in the TBA, particularly with regard to the needs of women and children. This project will allow the continuity of counter-trafficking activities in the TBA through the integral assistance to victims and the operational strengthening of the tri-national network to counter TIP. The project will be based in the TBA cities of Ciudad del Este (Paraguay),Foz do Iguacu (Brazil),and Puerto Iguazu (Argentina). -- This project would include: a. Providing medical, psychological and legal assistance to TIP victims in the TBA, including direct access to an interdisciplinary team of psychologists, social workers, and lawyers, as well as providing medicine and medical care from public institutions. b. Providing job training activities for TIP victims in the TBA that includes microentrepreneurial job training, food aid, and transportation assistance. c. Operationally strengthening the existing TBA counter-trafficking network based in Ciudad del Este, Foz do Iguacu and Puerto Iguazu, enhancing staffing and communications mechanisms that will increase coordination and improve cooperation between key judicial actors in the TBA. ¶3. POC for this request is Embassy Asuncion Human Rights Officer Michael Edwards, telephone: 011-595-21-213-715, e-mail: edwardsmg@state.gov. Please visit us at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/asuncion CASON