VZCZCXRO8724
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHAN #1416/01 3531204
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191204Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4055
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0768
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANTANANARIVO 001416 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP RYOUSEY 
DEPT FOR INL EFLOOD 
DEPT FOR AF/E MBEYZEROV 
DEPT FOR AF/RSA 
 
E.O.  12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM SMIG ELAB MA
SUBJECT: GOM STRIVES FOR TIER ONE TIP STATUS 
 
REFTEL: A) ANTANANARIVO 1289 
 
    B) ANTANANARIVO 920 
    C) 05 ANTANANARIVO 680 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Government of Madagascar (GOM) ministry 
representatives delivered comprehensive accounts of the year's 
activities at the semi-annual planning workshop of the 
Inter-Ministerial Committee to Combat Human Slavery and Trafficking 
in Persons (TIP).  Presenters noted some failures in 2006, due to 
constraints ranging from a lack of financial and material resources 
to overall coordination problems.  Our GOM partners remain committed 
to meeting USG requirements for graduation to Tier One status, which 
were incorporated into the government's five-year Madagascar Action 
Plan (MAP) (Ref B) for development.  However, the GOM still has a 
way to go in implementing prosecution measures, passing 
trafficking-specific legislation, and compiling reliable statistics. 
 Aware of these shortcomings, Ministry representatives are 
undergoing an intense consultative process to address these issues 
early in 2007.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  At a meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee to Combat Human 
Slavery and Trafficking in Persons December 12 and 13, working-level 
Ministry representatives delivered comprehensive accounts of the 
successes and failures of 2006, as well as challenges and 
opportunities for 2007.  PolOff was impressed with the participants' 
energy and commitment to achieving Tier One status.  She also 
counseled the group that GOM efforts must also address the need for 
prosecution, collection and dissemination of reliable statistics, 
and trafficking-specific legislation.  The committee carefully 
listened to PolOff's explanation of anti-trafficking definitions and 
requirements and, wary of possibly backsliding onto the Watch List, 
decided to re-align its 2007 Action Plan to specifically conform to 
USG minimum standards. 
 
¶3.  Participants were candid about the major obstacles they face in 
implementing TIP-related activities.  Across the board, Ministry 
representatives noted the lack of financial and material resources 
as a major challenge.  Several officials inquired about the status 
of the nearly USD one million for TIP-related activities promised by 
the U.S. Embassy in June 2005 (Ref C).  In light of the difficulty 
in communication and coordination between the ministries, the 
committee requested that the Presidency's Office of Social Affairs 
play a permanent coordinating role for government-wide activities. 
Participants noted the collection of reliable statistics remained 
tough; particularly for problems that occur behind closed doors, 
such as forced domestic labor and the sexual exploitation of 
children, especially in the more remote regions of the country.  One 
of the Presidency's priorities for 2007 is to establish a database 
of trafficking statistics and activities. 
 
RECAP OF 2006 
------------- 
 
¶4.  Ministry of Justice (MOJ):  In terms of legislative reform, the 
MOJ is close to completing several laws to be presented at the first 
session of parliament in May 2007.  These laws address:  the 
protection of child victims of abuse and violence (which includes 
protection for pregnant girls and punitive measures for the clients 
of child prostitutes); the fight against terrorism and transnational 
organized crime; raising the legal marriage age; and the 
responsibility of parents for their children. The Ministry is also 
close to releasing a decree listing prohibited forms of child labor. 
 While these legislative measures are not TIP-specific, the MOJ 
insists they will offer protection to victims of a wide range of 
abuses.  The TIP-specific law originally promised for October 2006 
is still being drafted, but the MOJ representative admitted that 
without the technical support of a consultant to ensure the text 
adheres to international standards, the Ministry cannot give a 
specific date of completion.  Other MOJ activities in 2006 to 
address the exploitation of children, violence against women and 
girls, and new adoption regulations included: 
 
--  training sessions for magistrates; 
 
--  a week-long screening of educational films; 
 
--  education campaigns on national television and radio; 
 
--  the creation of counseling centers; 
 
--  a joint action plan with community stakeholders to protect the 
children of Nosy Be; 
 
--  studies on violence against children; 
 
 
ANTANANARI 00001416  002 OF 003 
 
 
--  the adoption of decrees regulating foster care; 
 
--  and a study on Malagasy children in trouble with the law. 
 
¶5.  Ministry of Culture and Tourism:  To stop the proliferation of 
sex tourism in Madagascar, this Ministry conducted public awareness 
training at cultural events for 250 personnel working in the tourism 
industry, as well as for women and children at risk of being 
trafficked in seven different locations in Madagascar (Farafangana, 
Tulear, Betioky, Mahajunga, Manakara, Ambositra, and Antsohihy). 
The Ministry was not able to train additional speakers or 
instructors on the fight against sex tourism, as hoped, due to 
budget cuts and bottlenecks. 
 
¶6.  Ministry of Education (MOE):  The Ministry of Education 
conducted workshops on children's rights, the worst forms of child 
labor, the minimum working age, and school retention programs at 152 
schools and 87 parent associations throughout the country.  The MOE 
also conducted education campaigns on sexual reproductive health at 
18 schools.  The MOE's public education campaign included 27 
newspaper articles, 32 radio programs, five radio spots, five 
television spots, one poster and one skit on the following topics: 
children's rights, the worst forms of child labor, Conventions 138 
and 182, the minimum working age, education and school retention 
programs, the fight against teenage pregnancy, and the sale of 
alcohol.  Twenty-two Ministry personnel at the regional level 
benefited from internal capacity building programs.  The MOE 
incorporated these themes into International Education Week 
activities by organizing a debate and an exhibit on the social 
reintegration of child workers and street children. 
 
¶7. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
drafted a report on the implementation of the Convention on the 
Rights of the Child in Madagascar, specifically relating to the sale 
and prostitution of children, including for use in pornography. 
This report will be reviewed in April 2007 by the UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights in New York. 
 
¶8.  The Ministry of Civil Services and Labor:  In 2006, 36 of the 50 
child workers taken into the country's three Welcome Centers were 
either given vocational training or placed back in school; 20 new 
child workers were identified for professional training and 20 
others for remedial education.  The Ministry also set up provincial 
offices to monitor child labor in Diego Suarez and Tulear and is 
finalizing a text on the application of the labor code for child 
workers.  Unfortunately, the budget for remedial programs for child 
workers was slashed by as much as 45 percent, making these programs 
largely dependant on outside support, namely from the U.S. Embassy 
and the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor 
(IPEC).  Due to lack of funding, plans to build two youth centers in 
Antsirabe and Nosy Be were put on hold. 
 
¶9.  The Ministry of Youth and Sports:  In 2006, the Ministry of 
Youth and Sports trained nearly 60 adult speakers and 120 youth peer 
educators on life skills, gender issues, and children's rights; 
distributed fliers, posters and banners on "how to say no" and how 
to seek counseling; and created 7 CDs on sexual reproductive health 
and sexual violence.  The Ministry estimates its programs reached 
over 78,000 young people in 2006.  Its collaboration with the UN 
Population Fund to educate Malagasy adolescents about reproductive 
health, rape, sexual harassment and prostitution was considered 
particularly successful. 
 
¶10.  The Ministry of Telecommunications and Communication:  This 
Ministry trained journalists representing 125 of the country's 256 
radio and television stations on the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child and the GOM's campaign to issue birth certificates. 
Journalists agreed that child speakers should be featured on radio 
and television programs.  The Ministry also posted posters with 
messages against sex tourism in 150 post offices around the country; 
organized a contest in collaboration with UNICEF for journalists to 
write about children's rights; and trained 20 journalists on sexual 
reproductive health.  Following the release of UNICEF's video "Vero 
et Haingo" on sexual exploitation, the Ministry of 
Telecommunications dispatched copies of the film and supporting 
information throughout the country's 22 regions. 
 
¶11. The Ministry of Population (MOP):  Many of the MOP's activities 
in 2006 focused around the GOM's campaign to issue birth 
certificates, including the training of 400 civil servants on the 
issuance process and raising public awareness via 5,000 outreach 
coordinators and fliers.  The MOP is currently retroactively 
registering birth certificates in 111 communes.  As the lead 
Ministry on adoption issues, the MOP has also received 181 
applications for international adoption since 2003, of which 127 
 
ANTANANARI 00001416  003 OF 003 
 
 
were ruled on by the Court of Appeals.  At least six of the 
applications were rejected.  Other MOP activities in 2006 included 
the training of 275 child counselors; an education awareness 
campaign on children's rights legislation that reached 87,000 
children and adults, and the establishment of a children's 
association in Mahajunga allowing children to participate in the 
decision-making process at the provincial level. 
 
¶12.  The State Secretary of Public Security (SSPS):  In general, the 
SSPS has focused on prevention rather than prosecution.  Planned 
monitoring of nightclubs, schools, and alcohol sales to minors did 
not take place due to a lack of financial and material resources, as 
well as the general avoidance of any repressive police action during 
an election year.  Instead, the SSPS conducted educational programs 
on child exploitation, statutory rape, prostitution, and drug abuse 
for 17,700 students, 75 school administrators, 22 teachers, and 100 
parents.  Nine thousand members of the general public benefited from 
SSPS-run awareness campaigns on the protection of children's rights. 
 The SSPS also conducted education campaigns for 35 hotel managers 
and 24 "red zone" neighborhoods in Antananarivo on legislation 
concerning the protection of minors.  The SSPS has set up "morals 
and minors" police brigades in Tulear, Fort Dauphin and Morondava. 
Funded by the USG and in collaboration with UNICEF, the SSPS is 
designing a standard training module for police on the protection of 
minors.  The program has trained 25 police and gendarmes in Diego 
Suarez and 19 in Antananarivo.  Finally, the SSPS published a number 
of articles in international newspapers on the sexual exploitation 
of minors and a number of related topics. 
 
COMMENT: 
-------- 
 
¶13. Post remains convinced our GOM partners wish to graduate to 
G/TIP Tier One status.  There is no shortage of energy and 
commitment by the government to implement activities to reduce 
trafficking and human slavery in Madagascar.  However, the GOM will 
continue to make only incremental progress until it finds adequate 
funding.  The emphasis so far on prevention over prosecution is also 
in part based on the cultural bias against strong police 
enforcement, which many Malagasy perceive as "government 
repression."  A comprehensive anti-trafficking law remains the GOM's 
priority deliverable; Post assesses as realistic the claim that 
outside help would make it a much better instrument. 
Notwithstanding challenges and setbacks, Madagascar values its 
reputation as a model for anti-TIP efforts.  Post recommends the USG 
establish specific milestones for a roadmap to Tier One status, 
coupled with financial and technical assistance to facilitate 
Madagascar becoming one of the first sub-Saharan African nations to 
"graduate."  END COMMENT. 
 
MCGEE