SITE VISIT TO LEGAL RESOURCES CENTER, GHANA

UNCLAS ACCRA 000029 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KTIP KCRM KWMN GH SUBJECT: SITE VISIT TO LEGAL RESOURCES CENTER, GHANA REF: STATE 57798 UNCLASSIFIED NONE 01/11/2010 CHARGE:JFURUTA-TOY POL:RWSTEPHENS,MBUNNELL POL: BSHUKAN AID AMB DCM ECON POL RAO RSO AMEMBASSY ACCRA SECSTATE WASHDC SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KTIP KCRM KWMN GH SUBJECT: SITE VISIT TO LEGAL RESOURCES CENTER, GHANA REF: STATE 57798 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Per reftel, Poloff and Democracy and Human Rights Program Coordinator (DHRC) conducted a site visit December 17 at the Legal Resources Center (LRC) to assess the Center's progress in implementing its $400,000 two year G/TIP funded project. Six months after signing its grant agreement, LRC has made limited progress in meeting project requirements, holding just one training session for 28 people. LRC has made little progress in providing the advisory and technical assistance to the GOG that is required by the grant, and has not begun the public awareness campaign to highlight the dangers of trafficking. Of substantial concern to post, appeared unaware that the government,s Trafficking Management Board had been reconstituted in the Autumn. If LRC is to achieve the ambitious objectives of this project, it will need to significantly step up the pace of its work. Post plans to conduct more frequent oversight visits to assess and encourage progress toward grant benchmarks. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) On December 17, Emboffs visited the Legal Resources Center (LRC) to assess progress in meeting the requirements of the USG grant. Emboffs met with Executive Director Tuinese Edward Amuzu, Director of Programs Daphne Lariba Nabila, Legal Practitioner Dzifa Ami Gakpleazi, and Director of Finance and Administration Joseph Awekoli Asobayire. ¶3. (U) (Note: The meeting was secured after some difficulty. DHRC called the LRC on December 14 to schedule a meeting to discuss the FY 2009 G/TIP grant. LRC staff appeared surprised to hear from the Embassy and put DHRC on hold for approximately five minutes before being disconnected. DHRC re-established contact after several attempts and spoke with Dzifa Ami Gakpleazi who again asked for clarification of the purpose of the meeting. Dzifa said she needed to receive approval from her boss before scheduling a meeting. End Note.) ¶4. (U) LRC signed an agreement with G/TIP on June 4, 2009 for the $400,000 two-year project. The Statement of Work requires LRC to implement seven specific objectives, including conducting specialized training for law enforcement officials, prosecutors, immigration and customs officials, defense lawyers, and the judiciary. The agreement also requires LRC to serve as a standing legal resource for Ghana,s Trafficking Management Board, assist the Ministry of Women and Children,s Affairs (MOWAC) with a shelter project and to develop guidelines to handle victims, publicize the prosecution of trafficking cases, and provide technical assistance to the Attorney General's office to reform current TIP laws. Training: -------------- ¶5. (U) The only area in which LRC has taken concrete steps to implement the G/TIP grant concerns training, and it does not appear to be on track at this point to meet the agreement,s ambitious training requirements. The agreement requires the Center to conduct six two-to-five-day training sessions per year for a total of 12 training sessions through which 600 individuals (immigration officials, law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges) will be trained. After six months, the LRC has conducted one two-day training session and has one training session scheduled for January 2010. The Center invited 50 people to the training session conducted in September, and 28 people participated. Not all participants were present on both days. ¶6. (U) The agreement also requires LRC to develop and implement a training curriculum for Ghanaian peacekeepers. In addition, LRC is required to train (4 sessions per year, 8 total) 400 additional police and military personnel. The LRC has not yet conducted this training, nor has it scheduled seminars. The Center is also required to develop and implement a sustainable training system within the Military Academy and Police Training School but has not yet developed the curriculum. Legal Resource & Advisory Obligations: -------------- ¶7. (U) At this stage LRC has demonstrated no progress in implementing its obligations to serve as a resource and advisor to the Ghanaian government to strengthen anti-trafficking activities. The agreement requires LRC to serve as advisors to the GOG Trafficking Management Board, to advise MOWAC on the protection of victims, and to provide technical assistance to the Attorney General to update anti-trafficking legislation. When Poloff asked the LRC Executive Director what actions the Center has taken to assist the Board, the Executive Director responded vaguely about being in touch with the board. After further discussion, it became clear that LRC has had no communication with the Board and was in fact unaware that the Board had been reconstituted in early Autumn by the current government. (Note: The prior Trafficking Management Board was dissolved when the new administration took office in January 2009. End Note). ¶8. (U) Emboffs asked about the Center's efforts to develop comprehensive guidelines for victims' assistance and referrals as part of the Shelter Project of the Ministry of Women and Children (MOWAC). LRC did not provide any evidence that it has begun working with MOWAC on shelter or victim assistance issues, nor did it provide evidence that it has begun working with the Attorney General on legislative reform. Public Awareness: -------------- ¶9. (U) The agreement requires LRC to conduct a public awareness campaign to publicize prosecutions and sensitize the general public on the dangers of human trafficking and laws that deal with trafficking. However, at the December 17 meeting, LRC staff provided no indication of preparations for the media campaign. The Way Forward: -------------- ¶10. (U) Following this initial site visit, our impression is that LRC is not on track to meet the ambitious requirements of the G/TIP grant. If LRC continues at this pace it will be difficult to meet grant requirements within the two year time frame. The quality of LRC,s written material appears to be quite high (we were impressed, for example, by the PowerPoint slides LRC used in its first training session),but this level of quality does not appear representative of how LRC is implementing the project. LRC needs to be more pro-active in engaging government agencies with which they are required to collaborate, and needs a greater sense of urgency in its approach to implementing the numerous requirements of this project. In the only area that it has made progress, training, it does not appear remotely close to meeting the project targets. Going forward, post plans to conduct more regular oversight visits with LRC, using a structured checklist to measure implementation of the project. To provide incentives and ensure compliance, we also recommend that payment disbursements be tied to progress reported in these Embassy assessments. FURUTA-TOY FURUTA-TOY