VZCZCXYZ0016
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #3958/01 2771429
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041429Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2721
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 4245

UNCLAS NAIROBI 003958 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E, AF/EPS, AND DRL/IL 
DEPT FOR G/TIP YOUSEY AND LEMAR 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO USTR FOR LEWIS KARESH 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO DEPT OF LABOR FOR SUDHA HALEY, PATRICK WHITE AND 
MAUREEN PETTIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ELAB GTIP KCRM PHUM PGOV KE
SUBJECT: Pace of Anti-Trafficking Activities Quickens in Kenya 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: The pace of anti-trafficking activities in Kenya 
quickened in the last week of September, with the first Africa-Wide 
Conference on Child Sexual Abuse, the regular meeting of the 
National anti-TIP Steering Committee, a briefing for 15 new Kenyan 
Ambassadors on TIP and victim assistance, and a two-day stakeholders 
workshop to redraft the anti-TIP bill.  Kenyan agencies are taking 
an active role, and cooperating with NGOs, donors and international 
organizations on prevention and protection.  These initiatives, plus 
upcoming G/TIP funding for police training, should lead to improved 
prosecution.  The Government's plan to increase the export of Kenyan 
workers highlights the urgency of developing an effective 
anti-trafficking regime.  End Summary. 
 
First Int'l Conference in Africa on Child Sexual Abuse 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶2. (U) The African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against 
Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), the Government of Kenya (GOK) and 
other partners hosted the September 24-26 Conference, which 
attracted a large audience of NGOs, government officials, 
professionals and media.  They discussed many aspects of child 
sexual abuse, including policies for prevention, prosecution, and 
treatment, many of which have a bearing on TIP in Kenya.  ANPPCAN 
said the proceedings will be posted on a website for public viewing. 
Labor attache and Pol FSN attended the opening plenary session of 
the conference and some workshops. 
 
¶3. (U) ANPPCAN's Africa Headquarters representative stated the 
Conference marked wide recognition of the need to break the silence 
on the long-standing problem of child sexual abuse in Africa. He 
noted that children were more vulnerable, especially due to the 
numerous conflicts and the effects of HIV Aids, and subjected to sex 
tourism perpetrated by both men and women.  Although African 
tradition and culture used to protect women and children, their lack 
of voice or role has left them vulnerable to a rising trend of 
exploitation.  He called for giving children a greater role in 
discussing the issues and developing innovative solutions.  The 
Junior President of Kenya's Child Parliament called for empowering 
Kenya's youth by providing more information on abuse and abusers, 
and on children's rights under international agreements and Kenya's 
Children's and Sexual Offences Acts. 
 
¶4. (U) Lady Justice Aluoch, head of the Family Division of Kenya's 
High Court and of the Task Force to Implement the Sexual Offences 
Act, reviewed the initiatives at the UN and AU to protect children's 
rights, and said the States' efforts have not been sufficiently 
detailed.  Until recently, child sex abuse was never discussed in 
Kenya, and offences were dealt with privately through paid 
compensation.  However, the Sexual Offenses Act would allow only the 
Attorney General to allow a filed case to be withdrawn, which she 
claimed would protect children from collusion between the offender, 
the children's' parents, and community elders.  Justice Aluoch noted 
that 16% of girls and 15% of boys were now reporting crimes 
committed by those supposed to protect them.  She stated that 
children would soon be able to call emergency line 116 toll-free to 
speak to counselors for advice and help. 
 
¶5. (U) Nigerian Dr. Ademola Ajuwon of Plan International cited a 
Canadian study estimating that child sexual abuse cost developing 
countries $94 billion directly or in lost future earnings.  She 
called on African countries to register all children at birth to 
document their actual age and enable enforcement of protection laws. 
 She decried the use of traditional African culture to cover up 
child abuse.  Child betrothal had degenerated into early marriage, 
and fostering into child domestic servitude.  She called for 
research into the minds of child abusers to determine their 
motivations and guide development of policies on prevention, 
protection, prosecution, and treatment. 
 
¶6. (U) Kenya Ministry of Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Nancy 
Kirui estimated that only 20% of child abuse cases are reported to 
authorities.  The conspiracy of silence within a community, lack of 
law enforcement, poor transportation and communications 
infrastructure, and inadequate child services institutions were the 
main challenges.  Kirui noted that government agencies, NGOs, and 
international organizations were working together in her National 
Steering Committee to develop a National Plan of Action against TIP. 
 She claimed 14 police stations in Kenya now had Child Protection 
Units. 
 
¶7. (U) Vice President Awori opened his keynote address by stating 
that although the session had run late, he had stayed and missed a 
meeting with GOK officials because he felt that protecting children 
from abuse by their families and communities was more important.  He 
noted the changing environment and pressures on Kenyan families 
caused by unemployment, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and drug abuse have led 
to moral decay and a frayed social fabric.  He called for a change 
in attitude and behavior, noting the traditional approach by which 
community elders resolved incidents of incest, rape and child sexual 
abuse was no longer legal and should be rejected.  Children in need 
were vulnerable to promises by predators, both strangers and members 
of their family and community.  He noted that commercial sexual 
exploitation of children was not restricted to the Coastal area, but 
was also rampant in border crossing points, urban and rural areas. 
 
 
¶8. (U) VP Awori called for an end to denial of the problem, and for 
stakeholders to install response systems that would treat children 
as victims needing protection and assistance, not criminals, and 
punish the perpetrators instead.  He denounced defense lawyers who 
protected victim's parents and abusers from justice.  Awori noted 
Kenya's ratification of child protection Conventions, their 
domestication through the Children's Act and Sexual Offences Act, 
the need for a law against trafficking, and effective enforcement of 
all of them.  He praised GOK efforts to control child sex tourism 
and assist orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), and assured the 
audience that President Kibaki cares deeply about this issue. 
 
¶9. (U) The Conference subsequently broke into workshops that 
discussed issues including: existing knowledge on child sexual 
abuse; international experiences, policy and legislation; role of 
media; trafficking and sexual violence; and, partnerships and 
community participation. Participants shared experiences and gains 
made and showed interest when the Nigerians offered to share their 
Anti-Trafficking Law with the participants. 
 
¶10. (U) On September 5, Vice President Awori also spoke at the 
launch of a Sh119.2 million ($1.8 million) partnership between 
Barclays Bank and UNICEF to assist more than 4,000 street children 
in the next three years by establishing drop-in centers Mombasa, 
Nairobi, Kisumu and Eldoret.  Awori noted that half of Kenya's 
population is under 18 years old, 1.8 million of these are orphans, 
and that an estimated 8.6 million children live in poverty.  Awori 
said the Government was formulating a national policy for OVCs which 
would expand the Cash Transfer Program currently operating together 
with UNICEF in 37 Districts. 
 
National Steering Committee Meeting; Not Much to Discuss 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
¶11. (SBU) The September 25 meeting of the Committee did not 
accomplish much because many members were at the Child Abuse 
Conference.  PS Kirui noted that people would soon be able to call 
the 116 emergency number to report cases of trafficking.  Concerning 
the rescue center project in Mombasa, SOLWODI reported that a 
Committee had been formed to run the Center, and a lawyer was 
drafting an agreement by which the Archdiocese would lease the 
building to the Trustees.  SOLWODI hoped that renovations could 
begin by the end of October.  Post is checking whether a CJTF HOA 
civil affairs team can help in renovating the center.  IOM reported 
it had provided two days of training for the Task Force appointed to 
draft the National Plan of Action, and held three drafting sessions. 
 The Task Force planned to meet again on October 16 to complete the 
draft Plan for presentation to the Committee on October 23. 
 
TIP Briefing for New Ambassadors at FSI 
--------------------------------------- 
¶12. (U) Hearing of our interest in providing training on trafficking 
to Kenyan diplomats, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Foreign 
Service Institute (FSI) Director Ambassador Cheluget invited Labor 
Attache to organize a briefing for 15 new Ambassadors currently in 
training.  IOM defined trafficking for the Ambassadors, describing 
the international Conventions, and addressing the most common 
questions, such as the difference between smuggling migrants and 
trafficking.  LabAtt followed with practical advice about the 
importance of training Embassy staff on trafficking and how to 
assist Kenyan trafficking victims.  He distributed examples of the 
kind of host country information/knowledge their staffs needed, and 
where they could get it.  Ambassador Cheluget and his FSI staff 
seemed pleased with the briefing and will provide future 
opportunities to train the new class of diplomats and the mid-grade 
officers.  The plan is to organize a comprehensive briefing from 
IOM, the Ministries of Immigration, Labor, Home Affairs, and the 
U.S. Embassy on TIP, the GOK's efforts to address it domestically 
and overseas, and how to prepare to assist Kenyan trafficking 
victims. 
 
Improving the Anti-TIP Bill 
E 
--------------------------- 
¶13. (SBU) Chaired by NGOs that helped draft the original anti-TIP 
bill, and funded through the Kenya Law Reform Commission's GJLOS 
program, stakeholders met September 27-28 in a workshop to review 
the input from the Attorney General (AG) and UNODC and revise the 
bill for resubmission to the AG.  Stakeholders were disappointed 
that the AG, after claiming since May that his office was revising 
the bill, had offered only general advice on reorganizing the 
articles and clauses.  The only useful advice from the UNODC expert 
from Vienna was to clarify the definition of trafficking. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Labor attache and Pol FSN played an active role in the 
workshop.  Together with IOM, they persuaded the group to 
incorporate and modify the definition of trafficking in the Palermo 
Protocol to Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons.  No one 
could explain why the NGOs that drafted the original bill, including 
the American Bar Association, used an incomplete and defective 
definition of trafficking that would have made prosecution very 
difficult.  There were lively discussions of all other provisions, 
including penalties for traffickers and protections for victims. 
The group agreed to keep the Ministry of Home Affairs as the lead 
agency in addressing TIP, but assigned certain specific duties to 
the Ministry of Immigration.  The group did not determine the 
necessity of including clauses describing the provisions in existing 
laws that would be overtaken by the new bill.  For the next step, a 
smaller group of NGO reps will incorporate all the agreed 
suggestions into a clean draft for stakeholder review.  The goal is 
to submit a good draft to the AG by early January, after the 
election, for submission to the new Cabinet, and then the new 
Parliament. 
 
GOK Labor Export Plan... 
------------------------ 
¶15. (U) The urgency of Kenya addressing TIP effectively is increased 
by GOK plans to export Kenyan workers as a means of reducing 
unemployment, transferring technology, and increasing foreign 
remittances to Kenya.  The Ministry of Labor reported that Kenya is 
experiencing jobless economic growth because it is focused on 
capital intensive sectors.  Nine million youths make up 60% of the 
work force, and unemployment remains high among them.  Press reports 
claim the Ministry of Youth is working on a project to send tens of 
thousands of workers the Kenyan economy cannot absorb into foreign 
countries as guest workers.  The Ministry hoped to increase 
remittances from Sh90 billion ($1.3 billion) to Sh600 billion ($9 
billion) in two years. 
 
¶16. (U) The article quotes Labor Export Director Patrick Kasyule as 
stating the Youth Ministry planned to export at least 60,000 casual 
workers and at least 100,000 skilled workers every year.  Kenya is 
already exporting teachers to South Sudan and Seychelles, and nurses 
to Namibia.  Chairperson of the Kenya Association of Private 
Employment Agencies Margaret Mugwaja was quoted as claiming Kenya is 
becoming a preferred labor source for foreign companies because 
Kenyans are hard-working, well trained and speak English. 
 
Appears Vulnerable to TIP 
------------------------- 
¶17. (U) The Youth and Labor Ministries propose to collect the names 
and CVs of thousands of Kenyan youth and forward them to 25 
employment agencies or labor recruiters the Ministries have or will 
register and accredit for placement overseas.  The Labor Ministry is 
working with IOM and the ILO to model the project on similar 
initiatives in Philippines, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.  To protect 
Kenyan migrants, Embassy officials are supposed to act as labor 
attaches.  However, the Ministries admit Kenya has not yet ratified 
the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All 
Migrant Workers. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶18. (SBU) The GOK has acknowledged Kenya's trafficking problems, and 
Post sees rising participation of GOK officials in many anti-TIP 
activities.  GOK agencies are working with NGOs, international 
organizations and donors to develop an anti-trafficking regime that 
will implement the Palermo Protocol and protect Kenyans and 
foreigners from trafficking inside and outside Kenya.  The 
Anti-Trafficking Bill should be ready in early 2008, and we hope 
Kenya Law Reform Commission Vice-Chair Nancy Baraza will help push 
the bill through the Attorney General's Office, the Ministry of Home 
Affairs, and the Cabinet.  Some people have argued that development 
of the Action Plan should wait until after the bill is passed, but 
we agree with activists that the problem is growing too fast to wait 
on Kenya's dilatory Parliament.  G-TIP's two $60,000 police training 
projects should increase the justice system's understanding of and 
capacity to implement an anti-TIP law and Action Plan through 
increased prosecutions.  Although the reported early starting date 
and high goals of the Youth Ministry's reported plan to export young 
workers are exaggerated and probably not attainable, the proposal 
demonstrates the need for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to train 
its staff on trafficking. 
 
RANNEBERGER