VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKB #0479/01 1101323
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201323Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2851

UNCLAS BAKU 000479 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP PROGRAMS COORDINATOR REBECCA BILLINGS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN'S PROPOSALSFOR TIP SOLICITATION FOR 
G/TIP-MANAGED FY 2007 EF AND INCLE FUNDS 
 
REF: STATE 28153 
 
¶1. Per retel, we are pleased to submit five proposals for 
consideration for the G/TIP-Managed FY 2007 ESF and INCLE 
funds. The Embassy's TIP team - comprised of Poloff, Resident 
Legal Advisor, Senior Law Enforcement Advisor, and Pol FSN - 
reviewed all received proposals, and determined these to be 
the strongest. We have rank-ordered these proposals (starting 
with the strongest) and provided the requested summary 
information and our comments below. We believe that each 
proposal on its own would well-complement our current 
anti-TIP efforts, and several - particularly the top three - 
would be quite effective together. The complete proposals 
will be sent separately via e-mail. (Note: The proposals from 
local NGOs are not written in the best English, but we 
believe that both organizations have a clear understanding of 
the problem and the capacity to carry out their proposed 
projects.) 
 
ABA/FJE 
------- 
 
¶2. Name of applicant: The American Bar Association Fund for 
Justice and Education (ABA/FJE) 
 
Requested funding amount: $292,522 (federal share) 
 
Project title: Azerbaijan TIP Proposal: Building Capacity and 
Enhancing Cooperation on Prosecution and Victim Protection 
and Assistance 
 
Project duration: 12 months 
 
Proposal abstract: The American Bar Association Rule of Law 
Initiative (ABA), through its office in Baku, Azerbaijan, 
proposes to strengthen the legal response to trafficking in 
persons and to enhance cooperation among the myriad of actors 
currently working to eradicate this widespread problem. ABA 
firmly believes that legal knowledge and expertise, and more 
importantly, the appropriate application of the law, are 
fundamental elements to an effective anti-trafficking 
strategy. ABA also believes that technical assistance 
focusing on legal issues in combination with an emphasis on 
building cooperation, will contribute to improving 
Azerbaijan's victim protection services. 
 
The overarching goal of ABA's anti trafficking project is to 
build local expertise and capacity and enhance cooperation on 
prosecution and victim protection and assistance. ABA's 
anti-trafficking project will take a three-pronged approach: 
(i) training and education for legal professionals (judges, 
prosecutors, defense attorneys, and law enforcement 
personnel; (ii) training for non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs) working on prevention and protection issues; and (iii) 
strengthening justice sector and NGO cooperation on 
anti-trafficking issues. 
 
ABA proposes a one-year project in the amount of $292,522 to 
build the foundation for a more effective and coordinated 
legal response to trafficking throughout Azerbaijan. 
 
¶3. COMMENT: We have worked extensively with the ABA Baku 
office in several capacities, including through their 
DRL-funded Legal Advocacy Center and their DOJ-funded 
Criminal Law Liaison. ABA Baku is also a major USAID 
implementing partner, and through USAID funding worked on 
anti-TIP issues through the end of 2006. (NOTE: ABA Baku's 
current USAID funding does not provide for anti-TIP 
activities). We have been very impressed by their work, and 
based on this experience we are confident that they have the 
capacity to carry out this project in an outstanding manner. 
ABA Baku staff are well-organized, cooperative, and 
energetic, and have a wide range of contacts throughout 
Azerbaijan. This proposal targets three areas that remain 
weak in Azerbaijan, and this work would nicely complement our 
current anti-TIP activities. 
 
PROJECT HARMONY 
--------------- 
 
¶4. Name of applicant: Project Harmony, Inc. 
 
Requested funding amount: $180,851 (federal share) 
 
Project title: Azerbaijan Trafficking Awareness Project 
 
Project duration: 12 months 
 
Proposal abstrct: According to the US Department of State's 
206 Interim Trafficking Assessment of Azerbaijan, while the 
government of Azerbaijan has taken some steps to combat 
 
trafficking in persons, such as passing anti-trafficking 
legislation and corresponding criminal code amendments, key 
efforts and results in victim protection and implementation 
remain lacking. For the first time in 2004, Azerbaijani 
consular officers began to report potential trafficking cases 
to international organizations. The government targeted 
prevention efforts at populations vulnerable to being 
trafficked and funded the construction of permanent housing 
for internally displaced persons. In October 2005, the 
government adopted important criminal code amendments to its 
anti-trafficking legislation. Given these steps forward in 
combating trafficking, particularly among the most vulnerable 
population of rural women and children, a comprehensive 
initiative to increase awareness of trafficking in Azerbaijan 
is imperative. 
 
Project Harmony proposes the Azerbaijan Trafficking Awareness 
Project (AZ-TAP) to reach out using multiple strategies, 
venues, and media to ensure that those most vulnerable to 
trafficking in Azerbaijan are aware of the dangers and how to 
prevent being victimized. The activities proposed in this 
high-profile project will address three priorities: 
 
Direct General Public Awareness Efforts 
 
- Coordinated media campaign, including national and local 
print publications. 
- Grassroots media efforts through Azerbaijani schools, 
including essay contest for all Azerbaijani youth. 
 
Targeted Awareness and Asset Building Among Vulnerable Groups 
 
- Help centers and awareness materials specifically for rural 
women and children. 
- Partnership with Azerbaijani orphanages to implement work 
and educational program for those aging out of the system, 
reducing their risk of victimization. 
 
Capacity Building for Azerbaijani and International 
Anti-Trafficking Nonprofits 
 
- Professional Training provided for regional partners or 
anti-trafficking NGOs. 
- State-wide conference to bring together current leaders in 
the field and consolidate efforts across the issue. 
 
As a consequence of these prevention efforts, we expect to 
achieve the following results: 
 
- An increased awareness of how to avoid victimization among 
those most likely to become targets of traffickers; 
- An increased awareness of the problem of trafficking among 
the general public, leading to increased reporting of 
trafficking activities and traffickers; and 
- A more coordinated anti-trafficking effort among 
organizations throughout Azerbaijan. 
 
¶5. COMMENT: We have worked with Project Harmony on many 
projects, including several related to civil society capacity 
building and a school-connectivity program that provided 
computer and internet activity to 72 schools. We were very 
pleased with their work, and believe they have the capacity 
and the right attitude to contribute highly to international 
anti-TIP efforts here - an arena in which there is certainly 
room for more players. Project Harmony staff are professional 
and have great relationships with students and teachers 
throughout the country. The overall lack of public awareness 
of TIP in Azerbaijan remains an obstacle to the government's 
anti-TIP efforts, and Project Harmony's proposal - including 
both general public awareness efforts and targeted efforts 
among vulnerable groups - demonstrates a clear understanding 
of what needs to be done. 
 
AZERBAIJAN LAWYERS FORUM 
------------------------ 
 
¶6. Name of applicant: Azerbaijan Lawyers Forum 
 
Requested funding amount: $82,985 (federal share) 
 
Project title: The Struggle Against Human Trafficking: 
Training, Professional, and Long-term Legal Assistance and 
Enlightening 
 
Project duration: Twelve months 
 
Proposal abstract: The Azerbaijan Lawyers forum considers 
that there are serious problems in the field of the struggle 
against the human trafficking. Strengthening the struggle 
against human trafficking necessitates the involvement of 
lawyers, investigators, the NGO representatives to the first 
 
group and the employees of the Ministry of Transportation to 
the second group to the trainings, rendering of sustainable 
legal assistance to the victims within a year and conducting 
of enlightening works using the advertising rolls and 
booklets in the airplanes, trains, taxis and buses. 
 
To prevent the described problem, ALF has the following 
purposes: 
 
- To involve the investigators, judges, lawyers and NGOs 
trainers to the trainings specialized in the struggle against 
human trafficking and increase their professional level. 
- To involve the employees of the corresponding institutions 
attached to the Ministry of Transportation of Azerbaijan 
Republic, as well as Azal airlines, the Railway Station, the 
port, bus stations and taxi parks, through them to use the 
persons working in the railway sector and having regular 
contacts with victims of human trafficking in order to 
determine and inform victims; 
- To provide information about the necessity of appealing of 
the victims what state authority and what NGO. 
- To provide rendering of high quality legal assistance to 
the revealed human trafficking victims. 
 
To achieve these purposes, ALF is planning the following 
activities: 
 
- To organize the working group with participation of 
representatives of the Ministry of Labor and the Social 
Protection of the Population, Transport of Azerbaijan 
Republic, the Administration of Struggle against Human 
Traffic under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, National 
Confederation of Trade Unions, the national NGOs, the 
International Labor Organization and the International 
Organization for Migration; 
- To provide the employees of the state authorities fighting 
against the human trafficking with the international 
agreements seconded Azerbaijan Republic and the appropriate 
legislative acts of Azerbaijan Republic (documents translated 
into the Azerbaijani language)' 
- To provide the third parties with the booklets within the 
framework of information campaign; 
- To translate the recommendations of the international 
organizations into the Azerbaijani language; 
- To place the advertising rolls related to the struggle 
against human trafficking in the electronic mass media and 
distribution of booklets. 
 
The execution of indicated directions will have exceptional 
significance in determination of the human trafficking 
victims, indemnification of damages caused to them, 
preparation of professional lawyers for defending of the 
rights of the victims, studying of the effective 
international norms and the national legislation in the field 
of the struggle against the victims of human trafficking of 
the employees of law enforcement bodies. 
 
¶7. COMMENT: ALF has extensive experience assisting victims of 
trafficking, providing excellent legal analysis, and 
conducting and publishing research on trafficking and 
migration. In addition, we believe that expanding the role of 
local NGOs in the fight against trafficking is critical to 
further overall anti-TIP efforts in Azerbaijan. ALF has the 
capacity and the right contact base to implement this 
proposal well. 
 
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES 
------------------------ 
 
¶8. Name of applicant: Catholic Relief Services-USCCB 
 
Requested funding amount: $335,342 (federal share); $82,555 
(non-federal share) 
 
Project title: Local Initiatives to Fight Trafficking 
 
Project duration: Twenty-four months 
 
Proposal abstract: In Azerbaijan, trafficking in persons is 
an insidious problem that increasingly threatens its 
citizens. The issue is particularly grim in Azerbaijan's 
outlying regions, where dire socio-economic conditions, 
limited access to information about trafficking threats, and 
lack of support from local law enforcement, government, and 
NGOs, leave communities at risk. Catholic Relief Services 
(CRS) and local partners will implement the Local Initiatives 
to Fight Trafficking (LIFT) Project in twelve regions of 
Azerbaijan over twenty-four months. CRS will use a 
multi-disciplinary plan, with two focused strategic 
directions - building awareness and improving coordination at 
all levels of the targeted regions. The project's commitment 
 
and awareness-building will target youth, parents, unemployed 
men, local NGOs and other community stakeholders, while the 
project's coordination component will foster working 
relationships between the targeted local NGOs, local 
government structures and other community stakeholders. 
 
As a result of the LIFT project, citizens of Azerbaijan's 
outlying regions and its regional authorities will have 
increased levels of awareness of trafficking threats to their 
communities - with particular attention to the oft-neglected 
issues of trafficking of children and men for forced labor. 
They also will acquire tools to address trafficking within 
their communities through increased cooperation between local 
NGOs, local government offices, and a wide-range of community 
stakeholders. In parallel, a corps of local anti-trafficking 
NGOs will acquire genuine collaborative network experience 
which will contribute to the longer-term sustainability of 
Azerbaijan's TIP NGO network. 
 
¶9. COMMENT: We have not worked with CRS in Azerbaijan; 
however, we believe that their proposal is solid and 
demonstrates a clear understanding of the on-ground 
situation. We have had experience with CRS' chosen local 
partner NGO, Azerbaijan Young Lawyers Union (AYLU), through 
projects funded by our Democracy Commission Small Grants 
Program. AYLU has demonstrated great capacity and enthusiasm 
in their work on these projects, and we are confident that 
they could effectively carry out their portion of this 
proposed project. 
 
FANGOM 
------ 
 
¶10. Name of applicant: Forum of Azerbaijani NGOs on Migration 
Issues 
 
Requested funding amount: $18,680 (federal share) 
 
Project title: Preventing Human Trafficking through Public 
Awareness and Civic Education Campaigns 
 
Project duration: Nine months 
 
Proposal abstract: Trafficking in persons spread in the world 
appeared in Azerbaijan as well. Country citizens, women and 
young girls, teenagers and men are exposed to illegal 
transportation, which causes them to become victims of 
trafficking. Hundreds of facts regarding this have found 
their reflection in the official documents and reports of 
various international, national organizations and state 
structures. It is clear from the review of these documents 
and reports that the scale of the problem increases from day 
to day. Growth of the scale of human trafficking with such a 
fast speed indicates that the counteraction implemented 
against human trafficking is not based on any conceptual 
approach in many cases, is not conducted at sufficient level 
and is not effective and detected facts do not help to solve 
the problem from its root. Continuation of such a situation 
identifies the needs of this project. These needs are related 
with preparation of the report on human trafficking, 
including of information on current situation relating to 
human trafficking in Azerbaijan and combating conducted with 
human trafficking in the country in recent years in proposed 
report, those potential people who suffer from unemployment 
and who can face up with this social problem, implementation 
of awareness campaign among needy layers of the population 
and conduction awareness-raising trainings for NGO and mass 
media representatives who combat with human trafficking. 
 
Collection of information, conduction of meetings with focus 
groups, preparation of detailed report on human trafficking, 
organization of seminars with participation of project 
beneficiaries, preparation of strategy which serves to 
eliminate the problem in Azerbaijan in future and other 
activities will be implemented in order to provide enumerated 
project needs. 
 
After the project implementation, the following results will 
be achieved. Thus, the report reflecting the activities, 
successes and shortages of the combating with human 
trafficking implemented during the last 10 years in 
Azerbaijan will be prepared and sent to the parties which 
combat trafficking in persons. Interactive presentation on 
various parties, significant components and perspectives of 
the trafficking in persons problem will be prepared. 1000 
booklets dedicated to combat trafficking in persons under the 
title "What we have to know for not being a victim of human 
trafficking?" will be published and distributed among project 
beneficiaries and potential victims of human trafficking. 
3000 (on three topics, each of the will be 1000) fact sheets 
which reflect information on human trafficking, the disasters 
 
coming from this problem as well as minimum information on 
human transportation with the purpose of sexual and labor 
exploitation will be published and distributed. 10 seminars 
will be held in Baku, Ganja and Lenkoran with participation 
of young people from low income families, suffering from 
unemployment and wanting to go to other countries for working 
and awareness of at least 500 people will be raised through 
these seminars. Monthly information sessions (6 information 
sessions) will be conducted for NGO and mass media 
representatives who combat trafficking in human beings and 
100 people participated in the sessions will be provided with 
necessary knowledge. Strategy will be prepared in order to 
conduct struggle against human trafficking in future more 
effectively, program proposal will be suggested on this. At 
the end of the project, presentation will be held dedicated 
to results and achievements of the project. Likely, the 
number of direct beneficiaries of the project will be 600 and 
the number of indirect beneficiaries will be more than 1000 
people. 
 
¶11. COMMENT: FANGOM is the predominant local NGO on labor 
trafficking issues. It has traditionally been focused on 
research, but we believe it has the capacity to expand these 
efforts through this project. FANGOM's network of 
organizations throughout the country would also help with the 
implementation of this project. As stated above, we believe 
that expanding the role of local NGOs in anti-TIP work is 
essential to further progress in combating trafficking in 
Azerbaijan. 
DERSE