VZCZCXYZ0014
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLG #0125/01 0391636
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081636Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY LILONGWE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2339

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000125 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, AF/S 
USAID FOR AFR/SA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN KCRM PHUM ASEC EAID ELAB PREL SMIG MI
 
SUBJECT: INCLE PROPOSAL FOR ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
PROJECT - MALAWI 
 
REF: A) STATE 221178   B) STATE 226696 
 
¶1. Lilongwe submits the following proposal for funding under 
INCLE.  This proposal is second priority, ranked below a 
separate ESF-funded proposal that is being submitted septel. 
Proposal format is keyed to ref A, para 21. 
 
¶A. Establishment of a Regulatory Framework to prohibit 
trafficking in persons and to punish acts of trafficking in 
Malawi. 
 
¶B. US Department of Justice working with Malawi Ministry of 
Justice, Law Commission, Ministry of Gender, National 
Parliament, and Malawi Police 
 
- US Department of Justice (OPDAT and ICITAP) have particular 
skills in legislative drafting and capacity building of police 
and prosecutors.  Both OPDAT and ICITAP will be already 
actively engaged with the key counterpart organizations in 
Malawi as part of the Millennium Challenge Corporation 
Threshold Country Plan. 
- Ministry of Justice drafts most legislation for the 
Government of Malawi (GOM) and houses the Department of Public 
Prosecutions, which has expressed a particular wish for the 
tool TIP legislation would provide. 
- The Law Commission is an independent body, established under 
the Malawi Constitution to review laws against the 
Constitution and to propose necessary revisions.  The Law 
Commission also has legal draftspeople. 
- The Ministry of Gender is a technical lead ministry on anti- 
trafficking in Malawi 
- Malawi police are often on the front line of discovering and 
investigating TIP.  With the passage of legislation, they will 
be most effective on the front lines of implementation if they 
are adequately trained. 
 
¶C. 18 months.  This is a new project. 
 
¶D. Description 
 
Objective 
 
The objective of the proposed project is to provide assistance 
to the Government of Malawi in its efforts to formulate, pass, 
and implement a best-practices law which will prohibit, 
punish, and deter trafficking in persons. 
 
Activities 
 
¶1. Department of Justice will provide technical assistance to 
the Ministry of Justice and the Law Commission to support 
drafting and review of anti-human trafficking legislation for 
Malawi. 
¶2. US Department of Justice will provide technical assistance 
to support the broad understanding of the legislation amongst 
Members of Parliament, key committees in the Malawi National 
Assembly, and select civil society organizations to facilitate 
consideration and passage of the act. 
¶3. Department of Justice will provide technical assistance and 
training to judges, magistrates, lawyers, prosecutors, and 
police to support their awareness, understanding, and 
implementation of the act. DOJ will also provide appropriate 
training to professors at the University of Malawi Chancellor 
College School of Law. 
¶4. A limited amount of material assistance will be provided to 
assist police and prosecutors have adequate facilities and 
equipment to meet the special needs of trafficking cases. 
 
Sustainability 
 
This project seeks to enact and support implementation of a 
law for which there is public support in Malawi and which the 
Ministry of Justice and law enforcement agencies would 
welcome.  The law is sustainable and political will exists to 
implement it. 
 
¶E. Justification 
 
Malawi is rated by the US Department of State as a Tier 2 
country, meaning that it does not comply with minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. 
Malawi is not in Tier 3, because it is making "significant 
efforts" to bring itself into compliance with minimum 
standards, but the country is seriously chQQ\hQu`Qf)PlwQeTQ>!Qitself into compliance with minimum standards because of its 
extreme poverty. 
 
Trafficking in Malawi is poorly documented, but is 
 
characterized by the US Department of State as "a country of 
origin and transit for men, women and children trafficked for 
the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation." 
Anecdotal evidence from police, prosecutors, business people, 
civil society activities, human rights leaders, and the 
religious communities is so widespread and consistent, that 
the existence of a trafficking problem appears undeniable. 
Malawi's lack of anti-trafficking legislation is a distinct 
impediment to the work of police and prosecutors in punish the 
crime and assisting victims since they must stretch tenets of 
the penal code regarding "unlawful carnal relations," forgery 
or misuse of travel documents.  Alternatively, they rely on 
the constitutional prohibition of slavery and the abuse of 
children or the Employment Act prohibition to forced labor. 
 
¶F. Performance Indicators 
 
¶1. Best practices Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act is 
formulated and presented to the National Assembly. 
¶2. Three cases of Trafficking in Persons Cases prosecuted in 
year following passage of the Act. 
¶3. Malawi able to meet the Trafficking Victims Protection 
Reauthorization Act of 2003 by providing US Department of 
State with data on trafficking related investigations, 
prosecutions, convictions, and sentences. 
 
¶G. Evaluation Plan 
 
USAID, working with the US Department of Justice, will 
facilitate the formation of a task force, comprised of 
Government of Malawi, National Assembly, and civil society 
stakeholders, as well as key multilateral counterparts such as 
UNDP and UNICEF.  The task force will meet on a monthly basis 
to review progress towards the project objective, stated 
above, and to determine what contributions need/should be made 
by the stakeholders to promote the legislation and its 
implementation.  The proposed task force will link to the 
already established inter-ministerial anti-trafficking 
committee. 
 
¶H. Budget Breakout 
 
US Department of Justice (OPDAT) 
 
Technical Assistance 150 days @ $400/day     $60,000 
Capacity Building Activities                 70,000 
Outreach and Dissemination Activities        30,000 
Material Assistance                          20,000 
DSA 150 days @ $180/day                      27,000 
Travel                                       30,000 
 
Subtotal                                     237,000 
 
US Department of Justice (ICITAP) 
 
Technical Assistance 100 days @ $400/day     40,000 
Capacity Building Activities                 50,000 
Material Assistance                          30,000 
DSA 100 days @ $180/day                      18,000 
Travel                                       26,000 
 
Subtotal                                     164,000 
 
Total                                        401,000 
 
 
¶I. Type and Amount of Host Government Contribution or other 
Cost Sharing 
 
Ministry of Justice will provide office space for OPDAT 
adviser(s) and Malawi police will provide space for ICITAP 
advisers. 
 
¶J. Proposed funding mechanisms 
 
Participating Agency Program Agreement between USAID and 
Department of Justice. 
 
¶K. Embassy point of contract 
 
Martha Myers, USAID Democracy and Governance Team Leader 
 
¶L. Other donors 
 
Very little work on the issue of trafficking is being 
undertaken in Malawi. 
 
GILMOUR