VZCZCXYZ0028
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHWR #0935/01 1131254
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231254Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4020
UNCLAS WARSAW 000935
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
G/TIP FOR REBECCA BILLINGS AND AMY LEMAR-MEREDITH
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG PL
SUBJECT: TWO POLAND SUBMISSIONS FOR G/TIP-MANAGED FY 2007
ESF AND INCLE FUNDS
REF: STATE 28153
1. Two Polish NGOs prepared proposals for G/TIP funded
projects in response to Reftel. Post has already submitted
the full proposals for the projects to the G/TIP Programs
Section regional officer for EUR. Summary information for
each project follows:
2. PROJECT PROPOSAL ONE: COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING
IN POLAND - NEW CHALLENGES
--------------------------------------------- --------
Name: Zbigniew Lasocik, Professor of Law, Warsaw University
Human Trafficking Studies Center
Requested Funding Amount: $218,900
Project Name: Combating Human Trafficking in Poland - New
Challenges
Project Duration: 24 Months
Proposal Abstract:
The Combating Human Trafficking in Poland - New Challenges
project will study new types of trafficking, advocate for
legal changes to strengthen the definition of trafficking in
Polish law, and train government officials to provide better
service, It builds upon the Human Trafficking Studies
Center's previous experience in combating modern day slavery
and answers the most important questions of the day,
including addressing changes in the types of trafficking.
The project intends to carry out an integrated set of
activities to solve problems in three main areas of interest:
the effectiveness of the existing system to combat human
trafficking; knowledge about all possible types of human
trafficking victims; and special training for those assisting
trafficking victims. The Project is designed in such a way
that it offers very practical and effective tools to solve
those most important problems. It will:
1. Study the situation of two groups of human trafficking
victims we do not yet know very well in order to stop those
types of trafficking and those categories of victims:
--a. children, especially foreigners being transferred via
Poland, and
--b. male victims of forced labor.
2. Improve the effectiveness of the existing system. Two
steps need to be taken:
--a. The definition of human trafficking and lobbying for its
introduction in the Polish criminal code so that prosecutors
and judges have a better legal basis from which to operate;
and
--b. The establishment of a model of local cooperation and
testing of the model at the national level.
3. Provide training to officials involved in the care and
protection of victims based on new Polish legislation (Social
Benefits Act, 2007). The groups to be trained are:
--a. social workers, medical care workers, and local
government employees; and
--b. police officers, municipal guards and border guards.
The team will implement the project over two years and will
be composed of experienced experts from the Human Trafficking
Studies Center in cooperation with key actors such as:
Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Social
Welfare, Polish Ombudsman, Police, Border Guards and numerous
NGOs, including La Strada and Nobody,s Children Foundation.
Our cooperation with all them is long lasting (three-four
years) and very effective. All results of the project will
be made available for Polish practitioners, published and put
on our website.
The project will last for two years, will involve a large
group of experts from Poland and abroad, and will be
implemented in close partnership with key state institutions,
numerous local governments, all NGOs active in the human
trafficking field, and universities. The total amount of the
project is $218,900 (including fringe benefits and indirect
costs).
3. PROJECT PROPOSAL TWO: NATIONAL REFERRAL CENTER
FOR TRAFFICKED PERSONS
--------------------------------------------- -----
Name: Stana Buchowska, Co-Founder and National Coordinator,
La Strada Foundation Against Trafficking in Persons and
Slavery
Requested Funding Amount: $299,960.52
Project Name: National Referral Center for Trafficked Persons
Project Duration: 11 Months
Proposal Abstract:
Trafficking in persons is a serious violation of human
rights. In Poland, as in other European countries, it was
recognized several years ago as a problem that deserves
serious attention and action. Combating trafficking in
persons requires a multidisciplinary and cross sector
approach, involving all relevant actors from government and
civil society. La Strada proposes to create a National
Referral Center for Trafficked Persons to ensure that victims
are properly and appropriately assisted.
Anti-trafficking efforts in Poland date from 1995, and began
with La Strada, which was the first anti-trafficking
initiative all of Central and Eastern Europe. One of its
achievements was the adoption by the Polish government of a
National Action Program to Combat and Prevent Trafficking in
Persons in Poland (National Action Program), a
multidisciplinary and cross sector long-term strategy created
in 2003.
Even though the anti-trafficking measures implemented in
Poland in the area of prevention, protection and prosecution
of the crime of trafficking in persons are improving, there
are still gaps that need to be addressed urgently. These
include:
--Insufficient coordination of assistance and support to
trafficked persons;
--Unsatisfactory identification of trafficking victims,
especially by the law enforcement bodies. This is despite an
existing legal framework and procedures to implement them; and
--The lack of a comprehensive system on the national level
regarding the referral of trafficking victims.
The creation of an effective National Referral Center (NRC)
can be a vital step in ensuring that the human rights of
trafficked persons are protected. It will be a significant
improvement in developing a new quality of protection and
assistance to trafficked persons. A crucial prerequisite of
effective anti-trafficking measures is the construction and
strengthening of relevant local and national institutions
that are sustainable mechanisms to combat human trafficking
and support victims. The NRC will also provide guidance on
how to monitor and build the capacity of such mechanisms and
structures. It will foster contact and work among all key
players of anti-trafficking field: law enforcement, NGOs, and
other service providers who provide professional help and
assistance to trafficked persons via telephone hotlines, a
crisis intervention center, and a shelter for trafficked
persons. All existing services and resources will be
gathered in databases and trafficked persons who contact the
NRC will be referred to appropriate specialized services.
This effective infrastructure to combat trafficking in
persons will work on the basis of a broad definition of
trafficking in order to have the ability to respond rapidly
to different forms of human trafficking. Support and
protection services within the NRC will be accessible for all
categories of trafficked persons, both domestic and migrant.
La Strada, the first anti-trafficking initiative in Poland
and Central and Eastern Europe, will utilize its expertise
and know how and will coordinate and maintain a wide network
of law enforcement representatives, institutions of local and
central government, different service providers throughout
the Poland in the process of identification, assistance of
trafficked persons.
The NRC will gather information for a database of services
and resources available, and will match the needs of
trafficked persons with the assistance available. Until now,
services for trafficking victims in Poland have been provided
only by limited number of NGOs, local government
institutions, and charity initiatives. At the same time,
only a limited number of law enforcement representatives and
other first-contact professionals knew how and where to refer
a trafficked person.
ASHE