G/TIP FY07 GRANT UPDATE - WORLD HOPE INTERNATIONAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 002578 SIPDIS G/TIP FOR M. FORSTROM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KTIP SF SUBJECT: G/TIP FY07 GRANT UPDATE - WORLD HOPE INTERNATIONAL REF: STATE 55367 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. Per Department request (reftel),Pretoria's officer for Trafficking in Persons (TIP) met on December 10 with G/TIP grantee World Hope International (WHI) to monitor progress in the first six months of an 18-month $200,000 FY'07 grant. The funds will be used to support anti-trafficking awareness raising activities by WHI subsidiaries in South Africa, Mozambique, and Swaziland. From Pretoria's perspective, the grant appears to be on track, with World Hope having completed the first step of general TIP training to representatives of diverse civil society groups, as well as capacity building training for its new units. Barnard noted that TIP prevention training is increasingly in demand, as South African NGOs gear up to protect children and other potentially vulnerable populations during the 2010 World Cup. End Summary. -------------- Ongoing Contacts with WHSA -------------- ¶2. On December 10, poloff met with Elske Barnard, Director of World Hope South Africa (WHSA),for a progress update six months into an 18-month $200,000 grant supporting anti-trafficking awareness raising activities in three countries -- South Africa, Mozambique, and Swaziland. Barnard has regional responsibility for all three countries, but within this grant she is mainly focused on developing the new subsidiaries in Mozambique and Swaziland, while her colleague Ajwang (LNU) manages the South African program. This conversation, while not a "site visit" (since no training sessions were currently taking place) built on two prior meetings earlier in the year, including one with G/TIP Ambassador CdeBaca in July and a second with visiting WHI's U.S.-based Director of Anti-Trafficking Programs Adeyemi Oshodi. Poloff will also conduct drop-in visits to workshops in Pretoria on January 25-27, 2010. -------------- Grant on Track (Foundations Laid) -------------- ¶3. The grant is on schedule, vis-a-vis the project activities outlined in the project proposal. (Note: Barnard spoke from an "amended" table of activities, which she said was a simplified version of what poloff had received from G/TIP. Poloff will scan and send to G/TIP if required. End note.) Of the project's four steps, World Hope has now completed the first, related to "technical and organizational capacity building." This step included two-day train-the-trainer workshops on a general TIP curriculum, with one such workshop in each of the three project countries. (Pretoria's was held in late September. Poloff was unable to attend due to a competing conference.) While World Hope's South Africa subsidiary is well established, its sub-grantees in the other two countries are fledgling organizations which received capacity building training in October and November, in technical skills such as work planning and financial reporting. The three subsidiaries have begun preparing monthly narrative reports, which Barnard said G/TIP will receive. ¶4. When asked how the first step had fared, Barnard said the groundwork had been "a little rough," but that now WHSA was well positioned to carry the project forward. Where WHI had "struggled" most, she said, was on staffing the project, and on finding an officer to run the South Africa unit while Barnard focused on building the other two. She had also learned the hard way that confirmed participants sometimes Qlearned the hard way that confirmed participants sometimes withdraw from workshops at the last minute, as Salvation Army had done in Pretoria, and she would counteract that by inviting a few more than the target in order to ensure a full quota. Poloff's impression was of an organization that is a bit thin on the ground, and so has undergone some growing pains in order to undertake this grant, but which is confident it can ultimately meet the objectives. A verdict on this point will be more apparent from observation of the workshops in January. -------------- Next Step: TIP Prevention Training -------------- PRETORIA 00002578 002 OF 002 ¶5. The grant's second step, involving training workshops on TIP prevention activities, will take place in early 2010. First, in January, three-day train-the-trainer workshops will be conducted, with the same participants as attended the 2009 sessions on general TIP knowledge. In Pretoria these participants included officers and social workers from organizations such as the Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), Saving Grace, Amazing Grace, Sonke Gender Justice Network, New Life Centre, and Open Mind. (Poloff will forward to G/TIP a list with descriptions of the organizations.) The Embassy has also asked to add a participant from the Royal Bafokeng Nation, a traditional community whose stadium will host 2010 World Cup games and whose leadership asked the Ambassador for help in countering anticipated TIP risks. The goal is to train 15 trainers in each of the three countries. From February to April, each of those trainers is then committed to conducting at least one one-day workshop for at least ten members of his or her own community. -------------- Post Supports Continued Funding -------------- ¶6. Overall, Barnard appears confident that WHSA is fulfilling its grant objectives. Poloff will have more direct insight into the South African program from firsthand observations in January. (Note: Mbabane and Maputo can speak for the activities of the new subsidiaries in Swaziland and Mozambique. Financial reporting is being handled by G/TIP. End note.) From the limited perspective of the three discussions thus far with WHSA in Pretoria, the project does indeed seem viable for continued funding. -------------- 2010 TIP Efforts Proliferating -------------- ¶7. As an aside from the grant discussion, Barnard noted that WHSA had recently begun receiving many requests for anti-TIP training in the lead-up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. "Everyone knows a bit," she said, "but wants to do more." Referring to an NGO forum hosted earlier in the week by the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF -- a participant in WHSA's G/TIP-funded workshops) to discuss child protection during the games (septel),Barnard said she was pleased to see an entity of NMCF's stature and resources taking on a coordinating role on this urgent issue. While Barnard acknowledged that the South African government and civil society had been slow in mobilizing against TIP during 2010 and were now in a catch-up mode, she felt the NMCF was uniquely positioned, with strong networks and backing, to succeed in such a campaign. GIPS