P 130822Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5139
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000309 
 
 
STATE FOR AF/RSA (LMUNCY) AND G/TIP (VZEITLIN) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP PHUM SOCI PGOV IV
SUBJECT: MODEL ANTI-TIP EFFORTS IN SOUTHEASTERN COTE 
D'IVOIRE 
 
¶1.  (U)  SUMMARY:  The Government of Cote d'Ivoire (GoCI)has 
implemented a robust and comprehensive program to combat 
trafficking in persons (TIP) in the southeastern part of the 
country, with technical and financial assistance from the 
German development agency GTZ.  The southeast is a major 
transport corridor with neighboring Ghana and vulnerable to 
traffickers who transport victims from Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, 
and Benin.  Despite the program's success, however, GTZ's 
financial and technical assistance is ending this year. 
Government officials not only want to continue existing 
programs, but expand beyond their current reach.  Because 
GoCI funds for the 2007-2009 National Action Plan Against 
Trafficking and Child Labor have not been disbursed yet to 
fill the gap, there is a risk of losing momentum.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (U)  Poloff traveled to Aboisso and Noe (the main 
overland border crossing with Ghana) from April 23-24 to 
discuss TIP issues with relevant officials.  Government 
officials in the region have received extensive training on 
trafficking in persons and are actively working to combat it 
with the resources at their disposal.  With assistance from 
GTZ, officials have implemented a multi-pronged three year 
anti-TIP program which has yielded important accomplishments 
since activities were undertaken in September 2006. 
 
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MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U)  Under the anti-TIP program, government officials 
have organized, established, and staffed 30 anti-TIP village 
committees, 5 sub-regional committees, and 1 head 
departmental committee.  All of these anti-TIP vigilance 
committees actively refer TIP cases to the proper authorities 
as soon as they are discovered and serve as a protection and 
referral network covering the entire southeastern region. 
Unlike anti-TIP committees established elsewhere in the 
country, government authorities have institutionalized these 
committees through official decrees, ensuring that they do 
not disappear when key officials leave for other posts.  The 
committees also organize the training of new officials to 
ensure continuous, uninterrupted support for anti-TIP efforts. 
 
¶4.  (U)  Since the project began, government officials have 
sensitized villages most vulnerable to TIP.  The head 
departmental committee based in Aboisso has taken the lead, 
conducting over 200 public anti-TIP sensitization sessions 
and constructing over 30 large, public billboards in cities 
and villages across the region.  The billboards are posted in 
prominent entry and exit points to each village or town and 
encourage the local population to "SAY NO" to TIP.  This same 
message has also been disseminated through radio interviews 
with departmental committee members.  The programs are 
broadcast in French and in local languages.  The 
sensitization efforts have had a significant impact: the 
Aboisso departmental committee reports that villagers across 
the region now immediately call their village or sub-regional 
TIP committee if they spot people they suspect of trafficking 
children. 
 
¶5.  (U)  The departmental committee has also dipped into 
government coffers to subsidize the training of 16 young 
female trafficking victims.  The girls are learning sewing, 
housekeeping, and hairdressing under the tutelage of partners 
the committee identified and selected within the community. 
The committee also supervised the construction of a 
government-financed shelter that was built with money from 
the Aboisso General Council.  The Council is responsible for 
envisioning and implementing development projects in the 
city.  Although construction of the center has been 
completed, it is not yet functional due to a lack of 
equipment (i.e. furniture, mattresses, light fixtures, etc). 
When properly equipped, the two stand-alone buildings will be 
able to house approximately 35 victims.  Until recently, 
victims had been housed in a Methodist boarding house. 
Renovations to convert this facility into a commercial 
lodging establishment, however, have left the government 
without a reliable option for housing trafficking victims. 
 
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CHALLENGES REMAIN 
----------------- 
 
¶6.  (U)  Local government officials in Aboisso say that even 
with GTZ's assistance, they still do not have a sufficient 
number of vehicles, educational materials, megaphones, and 
computers to properly respond to the population's needs. 
Village committees are especially short of money and find it 
difficult to regularly assemble all of the committee members, 
as they must use their personal funds to travel to meetings. 
Aboisso officials said that although GTZ was very pleased 
with government efforts, it will not renew the project unless 
the government promises to earmark more of its own money to 
fight TIP.  For this reason, the Aboisso General Council has 
tried to use the meager funds it has to support anti-TIP 
related projects. 
 
¶7.  (U)  The police commissioner working at the Noe Border 
expressed concern that the GTZ project is coming to a close. 
When trafficking cases are intercepted at the border, he said 
law enforcement agents immediately call GTZ representatives 
in Aboisso because there are no facilities to house 
trafficking victims at the border.  In the rare instances 
when border police have intercepted children suspected of 
being trafficked, the children have spent the night in a 
spare conference room until GTZ could pick them up and bring 
them to Aboisso.  Because Noe police are not equipped to 
house or feed children, buses that are suspected of 
trafficking children are sometimes turned away at the border. 
 Commissioner Goze said that most of the children intercepted 
are from Nigeria or Togo. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶8.  (U)  Government officials have made significant progress 
on combating the TIP problem in southeastern Cote d'Ivoire. 
The departmental committee told Poloff, for example, that 
efforts have been so successful that TIP activity has 
decreased in the region covered by the program and increased 
in adjacent regions, as traffickers attempt to avoid the 
greater Aboisso area.  The head departmental committee in 
Aboisso is particularly committed to fighting TIP, and core 
members have traveled around the country to share their 
experiences and lessons learned with other fledgling 
committees.  As the departmental committee is one of the few 
committees that has successfully mobilized both government 
and international funds for TIP-related projects, committee 
members are hoping that earmarked funding from the 2007-2009 
National Action Plan Against Trafficking can be combined with 
international donor support so they can continue to build on 
their efforts.  Given the current election-related demands on 
the national budget, however, disbursement doesn't seem 
likely in the near future. 
 
 
NESBITT