VZCZCXRO7922
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTI #0617 2241429
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111429Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7348
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS TIRANA 000617 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE; G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AL
SUBJECT: VLORE ANTI-TRAFFICKING NGO TO STAY OPEN AFTER FUNDING PULLS 
THROUGH 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: On July 11 PolOff and the USAID Anti-Trafficking 
Advisor met with staff from the Vatra Shelter, one of the oldest 
anti-trafficking NGOs in Albania.  Vatra is one of four 
non-governmental reintegration shelters which provides a package of 
social services to repatriated victims of trafficking. The Vatra 
shelter, like other anti-trafficking NGOs, has come under 
increasingly difficult times as foreign donors are reducing 
financial support for anti-trafficking projects, and the Albanian 
government has not yet assumed responsibility for these structures. 
Post is concerned about keeping foreign donors engaged until the 
Government of Albania becomes appropriately engaged in the fight 
against human trafficking.  (Note: Albania fell to Tier II Watch 
List in ths year's Trafficking in Persons Report.)  END SUMMARY. 
 
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FUNDING UNCERTAINTY 
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¶2.  Vatra was started in 1999 by former military officer, Vera 
Lesko, in order to address the increasing phenomenon of human 
trafficking through and from Albania.  She realized that trafficking 
was becoming a serious problem in Albania and started the center to 
respond to the lack of social services available to returned 
victims.  During the most recent visit to the shelter, the Deputy 
Director of Vatra gave Embassy representatives an overview of the 
shelter, services provided to returned victims, and described 
cutbacks in services that the shelter has had to make due to 
decreasing support from donors and the Albanian government.  Vatra 
receives approximately 45 percent of their funding from Norwegian 
Church Aid (NCA), with additional funding from USAID and the Swedish 
MFA (through Kvinna til Kvinna).  This year, however, the Norwegian 
MFA, which provides funding to NCA, closed out their program in 
Albania without informing local partners.  As a result NCA was 
uncertain if they could renew their funding to Vatra, leaving the 
NGO in an unexpected funding crisis. 
 
¶3.  Vatra's funding and support problems started in late 2006 when 
the three Albanian State Police (ASP) officers who guarded the 
shelter were pulled from their positions because the ASP felt that 
protecting the shelter was not an effective use of state resources. 
For the past year and a half the shelter has been struggling to find 
the funds to employ a private security officer to protect the 
shelter residents.  In the spring of this year, a grant from an 
international donor providing legal services to the victims came to 
an end, leaving victims dependent on the legal services of already 
overburdened and under-qualified state prosecutors.  In late spring, 
when it appeared that NCA funding would not be renewed, Vatra sought 
funding from the GOA and several foreign donors and also made 
contingency plans to close down in September 2008. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶4.  Vatra's financial woes are representative of a wider problem of 
a trend of foreign donors pulling out of projects throughout 
Albania.  Waning foreign donor support is becoming a great concern 
to NGOs that rely more on outside support than they do on their own 
government.  Moreover, the problem is exacerbated by the GOA's lack 
of commitment and continued denial that there remains a serious 
problem with trafficking in Albania. This year, Vatra was lucky. At 
the end of July, and just one month shy of shutting the shelter, the 
Norwegian funding came through.  It is expected that because the 
Norweigan MFA planned to pull all funding from Albania this year, 
that this will be the last year they will fund anti-trafficking 
projects.  On August 11, Foreign Minister Basha told visiting 
EUR/SCE Director Jason Hyland that the GOA will soon begin funding 
all four trafficking shelters in Albania.  Although this is 
certainly a very welcome announcement, Post will continue to 
follow-up with the MFA to make sure that adequate funding from the 
GOA begins quickly. 
 
WITHERS