TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS SOLICITATION FOR

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000125 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN AND G/TIP KBRESNAHAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG CS SUBJECT: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS SOLICITATION FOR G/TIP-MANAGED FY 2008 ESF AND INCLE FUNDS: COSTA RICA'S PROPOSAL REF: STATE 161287 ¶1. One of Costa Rica's biggest challenges continues to be the trafficking of persons for the purposes of labor and/or sexual exploitation. Costa Rica is a source, transit and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for those purposes. Given the GOCR's resources and many other challenges, Costa Rica's effort to combat trafficking in persons needs assistance. The country's borders are porous and the government resources continue to be stretched. There is ample evidence that Costa Rica serves as a transit and destination point for many women heading north as well as the destination of many women trafficked from other Central and South American countries, the Caribbean (Dominican Republic) and Eastern Europe (mainly Russia and Rumania). ¶2. The responses below are keyed to reftel. An e-mail of the full proposal is being sent to the G/TIP funding opportunities address. ¶3. Program Description: ¶A. Name of Organization: National Counter-Trafficking Coalition (NCTC). Contact person: Agueda Marin, Program Specialist. Mailing address: Organizacion Internacional para las Migraciones (OIM),Avenida Central C.27-29, Apdo 122-2050, San Jose, Costa Rica. Phone number 011-506-221-5348, e-mail is amarin@iom.int. ¶B. Requested Funding Amount is USD 143,666.25 for a two-year program. ¶C. Project Title: "National Referral Mechanism for Protecting Victims of Trafficking in Costa Rica". ¶D. Project Duration: The term of the project is 24 months. ¶E. Abstract: This project seeks to strengthen the National Counter-Trafficking Coalition in Costa Rica by supporting the drafting and implementation of a national referral mechanism to protect victims of trafficking. One of the main recommendations of the 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report was the consolidation of the NCTC into a timely and strong platform to combat trafficking in persons. As a result, a National Action Plan was developed by Costa Rica, but remains to be implemented. This is an urgent priority. Through the development of this national referral mechanism for assistance of victims of trafficking, capacity building, and targeted training, this project will support the initial implementation steps of the GOCR's National Action Plan. In this regard, the government has allocated some funding to initiate implementation, including for awareness campaigns, but these funds are not enough to fully implement the Action Plan. This program will be overseen by IOM and managed through clear and well established principles, capitalizing on IOM's extensive related experience. ¶4. Post recommends this initiative as worthwhile and one that fills a void in the GOCR's efforts to combat trafficking in persons. BRENNAN