INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Anti-Trafficking Success Story: Final Report On

Published: Mon 17 Dec 2007 03:48 PM
VZCZCXRO3734
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #1475/01 3511548
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171548Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8369
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0103
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 0170
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0147
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 001475
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
G/TIP FOR MFORSTROM
AF/S FOR MSHIELDS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM MZ
SUBJECT: ANTI-TRAFFICKING SUCCESS STORY: FINAL REPORT ON
FY05 ESF ASSISTANCE TO MOAMBA SHELTER
REF: A. 06 MAPUTO 1056
B. 06 STATE 57689
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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) From July 2006 to July 2007 post allocated $12,000
in FY05 ESF funds to help start Mozambique's first shelter
for victims of trafficking in persons. The majority of funds
were used to furnish an onsite office, pay salaries, procure
water, food, and medicines, and provide transport to and from
the border with South Africa. The shelter opened in June
2006, and despite facing significant startup problems,
achieved moderate success in finding screening for victims,
providing shelter, food, and activities, providing
psychological support, and assisting with reintegration.
Prior to the conQn of the project and with a view to
long-term sustainability, post introduced the NGO Save the
Children-Norway (SCN) and the Peace Corps to the project and
encouraged their participation. SCN subsequently Qcided to
invest $250,000 over a four-year period, and the Peace Corps
assigned a volunteer to work at the shelter for a two-year
period.
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THE GRANT AND USE OF FUNDS
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2. (SBU) Post signed a $12,000 FY05 ESF grant with the
Institute for Civic Education (FECIV) to start the
trafficking victims' shelter. FECIV did not have previous
experience running a shelter, but received financial
(approximately $25,000), managerial, and technical support
from the German NGO, Terre des Hommes.
3. (SBU) USG funds were used to help finance the operational
costs of the project for one year and can be broken down
using the following categories:
Equipment - $2,593
Nutrition, Medicine, Hygiene, Transport - $5,036
Communication, Office Materials - $1,213
Coordinator Salary - $2,850
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CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
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4. (U) The shelter has space for up to 80 children, but has
averaged approximately 10-15 per month, of which probably 2-5
could be positively identified as victims of trafficking; the
remaining are victims of abuse, vulnerable orphans, or
runaways. This can partly be explained by the fact that most
government officials, and even some social workers, still do
not have a firm understanding of what constitutes
trafficking. On several visits to the shelter, the social
worker related stories of resident children that described
smuggling vice trafficking. This challenge will be difficult
to overcome, but with the (USG-funded) anti-trafficking in
persons law nearing approval in Mozambique's legislative
assembly, the issue is being more widely acknowledged and
understood by the general public.
5. (U) Another challenge involved logistics and changing
assumptions. The project anticipated sending a
representative to the border each week to meet trains
carrying repatriated Mozambicans to screen for trafficking
victims. However, within a few months it became evident that
very few children were on the trains, and the Coordinator had
to seek out alternative methods for finding trafficking
victims. The project also envisioned partnering with local
officials, border guards, and NGOs working on the border to
screen for trafficking victims, but lack of reliable
transport and communication kept the shelter a virtual secret
during the early months. Post played an active role in
finding a solution to this challenge by making several visits
to the border and rekindling a relationship with a religious
order active on the border, the Scalabrini Nuns. The nuns
have run a shelter and school immediately on the border for a
decade and have a strong relationship with the border guards.
With a view to renewing a partnership between the shelter
and the Scalabrinis, poloff encouraged USAID to direct
$15,000 to the Scalabrinis foQoject to specifically
screen for victims of trafficking and subsequently liaise
with the Moamba shelter. This relieved the shelter from the
MAPUTO 00001475 002 OF 003
burden of having to make arrangements to travel to the border
and perform a function in which it had no previous experience.
6. (U) A final challenge involved staffing. The initial
project called for a full-time project coordinator,
psychologist, guard, cook, and social worker. In January
2007 post learned by chance that the project coordinator (who
was based in Maputo) had resigned the previous November.
Post approached the FECIV director and expressed serious
concern, while advocating for the immediate hiring of an
on-site coordinator and assistant, and provided technical
assistance throughout the hiring process. The new
coordinator has a degree in social work and lives in Moamba.
Her creative energies and constant presence have made a
noticeable difference in both the physical appearance of the
shelter, the number of activities, and the overall morale of
the children.
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PARTNERING WITH AN NGO
----------------------
7. (U) After meeting the SCN representative during a courtesy
call in January, poloff learned that SCN had a significant
amount of money available for trafficking-related issues in
Mozambique. Poloff spoke in detail about the shelter and
encouraged SCN to become a partner. In April the Embassy
organized a visit to the border and the shelter to better
help SCN understand the situation on the ground and meet the
relevant players. After recognizing that most of the initial
setup for the shelter was in place (land, building, staff,
food, partnership with Scalabrinis), SCN decided to make the
shelter a pilot project as part of an overall project to
place shelters for trafficking victims in all three regions
of the country. SCN is providing $250,000 to the Moamba
shelter over four years, with components for salaries,
transport, new facilities, electricity, a well, food and
medicine, etc). This represents more than a 1000 percent
increase on our initial investment.
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PEACE CORPS ENSURES U.S. PRESENCE
---------------------------------
8. (U) Following a January visit to a trafficking shelter
(considered a model for Southern Africa) in Malelane, South
Africa, post learned that the shelter had utilized several
Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) during its first few years of
operation. With this in mind, poloff approached the Peace
Corps director in Maputo to inquire about the possibility of
placing a PCV at the Moamba shelter. Post again organized
visits to the border and shelter as well as with SCN to
provide a broad overview about the trafficking situation and
the Moamba shelter in particular. As a result, in December
the Peace Corps assigned a PCV to the shelter for a two-year
period to assist in organizing activities for and helping
reintegrate the children.
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COMMENT
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9. (SBU) Despite experiencing early growing pains, careful
monitoring and immediate intervention by post has helped to
not only sustain the shelter but also involve actors with the
capacity to take the operations to the next level. In
particular, the hiring of a new coordinator, the renewed
partnership with the Scalabrini nuns, and the involvement of
SCN and a PCV should ensure that the Moamba shelter will be
equipped to provide all necessary assistance to trafficking
victims in Mozambique for many years to come, while ensuring
important continuing USG presence. A successful Moamba
project will also mean that SCN would later open shelters in
the central and northern parts of the country. With the
anticipated passage of a new anti-trafficking in persons law
in 2008, a remaining overall challenge will be the further
education of government actors, such as police, border
guards, and other immigration officials as to what
constitutes trafficking and how to deal with trafficking
cases. Post notes that the initial small ESF investment has
resulted in significant dividends with international and USG
partners to help victims of trafficking at the border, and
believes that further ESF funding to address this concern
would be money well spent.
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Chapman
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