VZCZCXYZ0011
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDS #0047/01 0121054
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121054Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3331
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 000047 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/E, AF/RSA, G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM 
STATE PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG KWMN KTIP ET
SUBJECT: G/TIP FY07 PROGRAMS: MONITORING REQUEST - ETHIOPIA 
 
REF: A) 08 STATE 104394 
 
¶1.  (U) Per reftel, this cable provides monitoring information for 
the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons' (G/TIP), 
USD 324,000 grant to Project Concern International (PCI) to support 
the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) in the identification, rescue, 
assistance to and referral of trafficking (TIP) victims.  The 
project began July 17, 2008 and will conclude July 17, 2010.  The 
total expenditure during this first 5.5 month reporting period was 
USD 3,575.52. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The PCI Country Representative, Mr. Walleligne Alemaw, 
the PCI Project Manager, Mr. Aytenew Meheret, and the Multi-Purpose 
Community Development Project Ethiopia Executive Director, Ms. Mulu 
Haile, provided EconOff requested information on PCI's activities 
under the G/TIP grant during a December 23, 2008 site visit and 
follow-up telephone conversations. 
 
¶3. (U) Grantee's general activities to meet the goals and objectives 
of the grant proposal: Under the terms of its G/TIP grant, PCI 
committed to improving the delivery of victim protection and 
assistance services for both children and adults and to increasing 
the prosecutions in Ethiopia of human trafficking perpetrators.  By 
the end of the two-year funding cycle, PCI also seeks to have 
improved cooperation and coordination among key anti-TIP 
stakeholders, such as civil society organizations (CSOs), 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the GoE. 
 
¶4. (U) Over the course of the grant's first and second quarters 
(through January 16, 2009), PCI hired a project manager and met its 
specific commitments to collect baseline assessment information and 
draft terms of reference for consultants to implement a number of 
PCI's goals (including developing the baseline assessment, 
finalizing a performance monitoring plan (PMP), developing family 
tracing and reintegration protocols and training modules, training 
of victim support unit (VSU) officers, and building data collection 
capacity in civil society organizations).  Little progress has been 
made on PCI's other objectives under the grant, such as assisting 
GoE ministries in developing action plans, orienting CSO networks on 
TIP concerns, strengthening cooperation between VSUs and civil 
society service providers, providing funding for the Ministry of 
Justice (MoJ) to disseminate TIP information, or assisting the 
national TIP taskforce in its coordinating functions. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Special issues or problems the grantee has encountered: 
Recent turnover at the MOJ's highest levels (both the Minister and 
the Deputy Minister were changed) "derailed" some of PCI's 
programming efforts to date, according to the PCI Country 
Representative.  In addition, current NGO law requires that the MOJ 
vet sub-grantee agreements and partnerships among and between NGOs 
(such as PCI and MCDP).  Over the past three months, PCI's Country 
Representative and TIP Project Manager have unsuccessfully lobbied 
via fax, e-mail, mail and office appointments to obtain appropriate 
MOJ sub-grantee agreement review and co-signature.  As a result of 
MOJ's non-responsiveness, PCI has not been able to launch vital 
regional coordination committees that aim to partner with regional 
courts and local CSOs to train regional judges and prosecutors on 
national and international anti-TIP legal instruments.  PCI also has 
not been able to secure MOJ's approval of a justice capacity 
building sub-agreement. 
 
¶6. (SBU) PCI's operating context, sustainability of grantee 
activity: High unemployment and extreme poverty in Ethiopia have 
helped make Ethiopia a country of origin for internationally 
trafficked women, to a lesser extent men, and a growing number of 
children.  Trafficking also occurs within the country's borders. 
While the GoE has signed many international treaties and conventions 
designed to protect children, GoE lacks the resources to enforce 
effectively its child protection and anti-trafficking laws.  In 
addition, a GoE inter-ministerial taskforce on TIP has not met since 
June 2007.  The GoE, CSOs, and international organizations likewise 
have not prioritized the prevention and mitigation of the effects of 
"internal" TIP.  Due to a recent decrease in its anti-TIP funding, 
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will only be able 
to provide PCI with limited support for public awareness campaigns 
and the repatriation of international trafficking victims.  PCI's 
project is designed to strengthen cooperation between governmental 
and non-governmental organizations on internal TIP, and to develop 
systems to provide a long-term, sustainable response in the face of 
this growing challenge.  However, as above, the MOJ's internal 
vetting processes have inhibited PCI's ability to facilitate 
communication and coordination among anti-TIP entities.  PCI's 
activities may be more sustainable if it can reinvigorate the 
inter-ministerial taskforce. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Grantee's capacity and qualifications for its current 
activities and location: PCI has more than 30 years of experience 
managing grants, contracts and cooperative agreements from USAID in 
a variety of countries, and has the requisite familiarity with U.S. 
Government reporting procedures.  In Ethiopia, PCI has firmly 
established itself as a leading voice in the network of anti-TIP 
NGO's, and enjoys positive working associations with nationally and 
internationally recognized NGO stakeholders, such as MCDP and FSC/E. 
  PCI seeks, via its MCDP partnership to establish satellite offices 
along trafficking routes and destinations in the Amhara, Oromiya and 
Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's (SNNPR) regions. While 
currently delayed, PCI's staffing plan appears to be tailored to 
achieve its commitments under the G/TIP grant.  PCI still must hire 
a TIP training coordinator, as well as an outreach/reintegration 
coordinator.  PCI's Country Representative, Regional Director and 
Senior Technical Officer provide managerial support, oversight, and 
technical assistance. 
 
¶8. (U) Recommendations for G/TIP grantee assistance: 
 
--Support PCI to resolve MoJ's inaction or find alternative means to 
implement its grant.  For example, while PCI cannot provide monetary 
sub-grants to NGO partners without MoJ approval, it can engage in 
(and self-finance) capacity efforts that include short forums, 
workshops, and training that draw together a cross-section of police 
officials, prosecutors and relevant NGOs.  PCI can also provide 
staff and service support to NGO partners in-kind, as long as there 
is no inter-organizational monetary exchange. 
 
--Encourage PCI to hold an official launch event or open-house to 
generate good will and to educate and inform stakeholders of PCI's 
role in supporting Ethiopia's anti-TIP efforts. 
 
--Impress upon PCI that it must accelerate its "staffing up" and 
enhance outreach efforts beyond its current headquarters by hiring 
as quickly as possible its training and outreach/reintegration 
coordinators.  The current Project Manager has been consumed with 
start-up administrative tasks (including document drafting, 
consultant recruitment and follow up with the MoJ), but outreach 
must begin. 
 
¶9. (SBU) How the activities address key deficiencies in Ethiopia's 
anti-TIP work:  To improve victim protection and assistance, PCI 
will need to increase identification and interception of victims by 
assisting government ministries in the development of action plans 
specific to their sectors and significantly expanding the number of 
CSOs able to intervene.  PCI will also need to identify resources to 
hire outreach workers to proactively intercept TIP victims and refer 
them to organizations specialized in the provision of temporary 
housing and other services.  PCI is also appropriately focused on 
increasing the capacity of prosecutors and judges to effectively 
prosecute traffickers by helping the MOJ to train prosecutors and 
judges along critical trafficking routes. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Summary of the grantee's overall performance:  PCI has the 
both the national and international reputation to grow and sustain 
its anti-TIP work in Ethiopia.  The staff currently in place appears 
to be sufficiently knowledgeable about their operational context, 
barriers and challenges.  While PCI Ethiopia has been limited from 
formalizing sub-grantee partnerships, however, it has been slow to 
develop alternative (or at least interim) programming, and 
therefore, as highlighted, has under-delivered in these first two 
quarters. 
 
YAMAMOTO