Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ADDISABABA47
2009-01-12 10:54:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:  

G/TIP FY07 PROGRAMS: MONITORING REQUEST - ETHIOPIA

Tags:  ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG KWMN KTIP ET 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0011
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDS #0047/01 0121054
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121054Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3331
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 000047 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/E, AF/RSA, G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM
STATE PASS USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG KWMN KTIP ET
SUBJECT: G/TIP FY07 PROGRAMS: MONITORING REQUEST - ETHIOPIA

REF: A) 08 STATE 104394

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 000047

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/E, AF/RSA, G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM
STATE PASS USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG KWMN KTIP ET
SUBJECT: G/TIP FY07 PROGRAMS: MONITORING REQUEST - ETHIOPIA

REF: A) 08 STATE 104394


1. (U) Per reftel, this cable provides monitoring information for
the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons' (G/TIP),
USD 324,000 grant to Project Concern International (PCI) to support
the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) in the identification, rescue,
assistance to and referral of trafficking (TIP) victims. The
project began July 17, 2008 and will conclude July 17, 2010. The
total expenditure during this first 5.5 month reporting period was
USD 3,575.52.


2. (SBU) The PCI Country Representative, Mr. Walleligne Alemaw,
the PCI Project Manager, Mr. Aytenew Meheret, and the Multi-Purpose
Community Development Project Ethiopia Executive Director, Ms. Mulu
Haile, provided EconOff requested information on PCI's activities
under the G/TIP grant during a December 23, 2008 site visit and
follow-up telephone conversations.


3. (U) Grantee's general activities to meet the goals and objectives
of the grant proposal: Under the terms of its G/TIP grant, PCI
committed to improving the delivery of victim protection and
assistance services for both children and adults and to increasing
the prosecutions in Ethiopia of human trafficking perpetrators. By
the end of the two-year funding cycle, PCI also seeks to have
improved cooperation and coordination among key anti-TIP
stakeholders, such as civil society organizations (CSOs),
non-governmental organizations (NGOs),and the GoE.


4. (U) Over the course of the grant's first and second quarters
(through January 16, 2009),PCI hired a project manager and met its
specific commitments to collect baseline assessment information and
draft terms of reference for consultants to implement a number of
PCI's goals (including developing the baseline assessment,
finalizing a performance monitoring plan (PMP),developing family
tracing and reintegration protocols and training modules, training
of victim support unit (VSU) officers, and building data collection
capacity in civil society organizations). Little progress has been

made on PCI's other objectives under the grant, such as assisting
GoE ministries in developing action plans, orienting CSO networks on
TIP concerns, strengthening cooperation between VSUs and civil
society service providers, providing funding for the Ministry of
Justice (MoJ) to disseminate TIP information, or assisting the
national TIP taskforce in its coordinating functions.


5. (SBU) Special issues or problems the grantee has encountered:
Recent turnover at the MOJ's highest levels (both the Minister and
the Deputy Minister were changed) "derailed" some of PCI's
programming efforts to date, according to the PCI Country
Representative. In addition, current NGO law requires that the MOJ
vet sub-grantee agreements and partnerships among and between NGOs
(such as PCI and MCDP). Over the past three months, PCI's Country
Representative and TIP Project Manager have unsuccessfully lobbied
via fax, e-mail, mail and office appointments to obtain appropriate
MOJ sub-grantee agreement review and co-signature. As a result of
MOJ's non-responsiveness, PCI has not been able to launch vital
regional coordination committees that aim to partner with regional
courts and local CSOs to train regional judges and prosecutors on
national and international anti-TIP legal instruments. PCI also has
not been able to secure MOJ's approval of a justice capacity
building sub-agreement.


6. (SBU) PCI's operating context, sustainability of grantee
activity: High unemployment and extreme poverty in Ethiopia have
helped make Ethiopia a country of origin for internationally
trafficked women, to a lesser extent men, and a growing number of
children. Trafficking also occurs within the country's borders.
While the GoE has signed many international treaties and conventions
designed to protect children, GoE lacks the resources to enforce
effectively its child protection and anti-trafficking laws. In
addition, a GoE inter-ministerial taskforce on TIP has not met since
June 2007. The GoE, CSOs, and international organizations likewise
have not prioritized the prevention and mitigation of the effects of
"internal" TIP. Due to a recent decrease in its anti-TIP funding,
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will only be able
to provide PCI with limited support for public awareness campaigns
and the repatriation of international trafficking victims. PCI's
project is designed to strengthen cooperation between governmental
and non-governmental organizations on internal TIP, and to develop
systems to provide a long-term, sustainable response in the face of
this growing challenge. However, as above, the MOJ's internal
vetting processes have inhibited PCI's ability to facilitate
communication and coordination among anti-TIP entities. PCI's
activities may be more sustainable if it can reinvigorate the
inter-ministerial taskforce.


7. (SBU) Grantee's capacity and qualifications for its current
activities and location: PCI has more than 30 years of experience
managing grants, contracts and cooperative agreements from USAID in
a variety of countries, and has the requisite familiarity with U.S.
Government reporting procedures. In Ethiopia, PCI has firmly
established itself as a leading voice in the network of anti-TIP
NGO's, and enjoys positive working associations with nationally and
internationally recognized NGO stakeholders, such as MCDP and FSC/E.
PCI seeks, via its MCDP partnership to establish satellite offices
along trafficking routes and destinations in the Amhara, Oromiya and
Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's (SNNPR) regions. While
currently delayed, PCI's staffing plan appears to be tailored to
achieve its commitments under the G/TIP grant. PCI still must hire
a TIP training coordinator, as well as an outreach/reintegration
coordinator. PCI's Country Representative, Regional Director and
Senior Technical Officer provide managerial support, oversight, and
technical assistance.


8. (U) Recommendations for G/TIP grantee assistance:

--Support PCI to resolve MoJ's inaction or find alternative means to
implement its grant. For example, while PCI cannot provide monetary
sub-grants to NGO partners without MoJ approval, it can engage in
(and self-finance) capacity efforts that include short forums,
workshops, and training that draw together a cross-section of police
officials, prosecutors and relevant NGOs. PCI can also provide
staff and service support to NGO partners in-kind, as long as there
is no inter-organizational monetary exchange.

--Encourage PCI to hold an official launch event or open-house to
generate good will and to educate and inform stakeholders of PCI's
role in supporting Ethiopia's anti-TIP efforts.

--Impress upon PCI that it must accelerate its "staffing up" and
enhance outreach efforts beyond its current headquarters by hiring
as quickly as possible its training and outreach/reintegration
coordinators. The current Project Manager has been consumed with
start-up administrative tasks (including document drafting,
consultant recruitment and follow up with the MoJ),but outreach
must begin.


9. (SBU) How the activities address key deficiencies in Ethiopia's
anti-TIP work: To improve victim protection and assistance, PCI
will need to increase identification and interception of victims by
assisting government ministries in the development of action plans
specific to their sectors and significantly expanding the number of
CSOs able to intervene. PCI will also need to identify resources to
hire outreach workers to proactively intercept TIP victims and refer
them to organizations specialized in the provision of temporary
housing and other services. PCI is also appropriately focused on
increasing the capacity of prosecutors and judges to effectively
prosecute traffickers by helping the MOJ to train prosecutors and
judges along critical trafficking routes.


10. (SBU) Summary of the grantee's overall performance: PCI has the
both the national and international reputation to grow and sustain
its anti-TIP work in Ethiopia. The staff currently in place appears
to be sufficiently knowledgeable about their operational context,
barriers and challenges. While PCI Ethiopia has been limited from
formalizing sub-grantee partnerships, however, it has been slow to
develop alternative (or at least interim) programming, and
therefore, as highlighted, has under-delivered in these first two
quarters.

YAMAMOTO