VZCZCXYZ0020
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTG #1275/01 3441616
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101616Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1295
INFO RHMFISS/CDR JTF-BRAVO  PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCSOUTH  PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001275 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KTIP KWMN PHUM HO
SUBJECT: MONITORING VISIT OF G/TIP FY 08 PROGRAM IN HONDURAS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 112738 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  Poloff met local representatives of CHF 
International on November 17 in Tegucigalpa to discuss the 
status of the G/TIP funded "Integrated Protection Services 
for Victims of Trafficking" (IPSVT) program and in response 
to reftel.  The goal of the program in Honduras is to 
facilitate integration of service delivery to victims of 
trafficking, strengthen the Honduran government's capacity to 
provide services to victims, and to build a network of over 
10 organizations that will be equipped to provide ongoing 
integrated assistance to victims of trafficking.  The site 
visit demonstrated the G/TIP-funded program administered by 
CHF International in Honduras is moving forward on schedule 
and appears to be on track to achieve the goals as stated in 
its project proposal.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) In response to reftel, Poloff met CHF International 
Country Director Milton Funes and Program Manager Gabriel 
Perdomo on November 17 in Tegucigalpa to discuss the status 
of their G/TIP funded program, "Integrated Protection 
Services for Victims of Trafficking" (IPSVT).  The activities 
of CHF at this point demonstrate they are meeting their 
stated goals and objectives or are on the way to achieving 
them.  Specifically, to date, CHF has signed four memos of 
understanding (MOU) with implementing organizations.  These 
organizations include: United Foundation for the Life (FUL), 
San Juan Bosco Treatment Center, the Honduran National 
Institute of Training (INFOP), and ABAC Victoria Project. 
These MOUs were the first step in achieving the goal of an 
integrated menu of assistance options for trafficking victims 
and is the target of the project's first implementing 
objective.  The target of CHF's other implementing 
objectives, including increasing capacity and access of 
services, increasing vocation and employment opportunities to 
victims, will be implemented more fully once the implementing 
partners open for business, which CHF expects to occur during 
the first week of December. 
 
¶3. (U) On September 9, CHF launched the IPSVT program in 
Tegucigalpa with a public press conference and inagural 
ceremony.  The ceremony received widespread media attention 
and was attended by implementing partners, the Honduran 
Director of Immigration, and the Honduran Special Prosecutor 
for Children's Issues Nora Urbina.  Additionally, a database 
of available service providers for trafficking victims was 
made available on the program's website.  Within the next two 
to three weeks, the existing implementers will be ready to 
provide basic response services to trafficking victims 
including food, shelter, and psychological services.  The 
International Migration Organization (OIM) in Honduras has 
developed, along with the Ministry of Security, an emergency 
line dedicated for victims of trafficking.  The IPSVT program 
told Poloff that this telephone line will greatly assist in 
the ability to achieve the target goal of reaching 300 
trafficking victims, helping 150 victims return to their 
homes, helping provide employment training to at least 150 
victims, and reaching 600,000 Hondurans with education 
material on the issue of human trafficking.  One of the 
programs implementing partners, INFOP, will be the primary 
institution that provides job training to victims.  INFOP 
will begin providing this training in early 2010. 
 
¶4. (U) During the site visit, IPSVT program manager Gabriel 
Perdomo told Poloff that the program faces three primary 
challenges.  First, there was the coordination of services 
provided by governmental and non-governmental sectors. 
Perdomo reported that organizations were initially suspect of 
working closely with "competitor" organizations, but that 
with time, CHF has won confidence by encouraging a fully 
transparent MOU process.  Second, the IPSVT project has 
struggled to find a qualified consultant to complete their 
planned "base line" study of trafficking victims statistics. 
They have received three proposals that did not meet their 
standards and have taken out two ads in local newspapers 
hoping to improve the application pool.  CHF Director Milton 
Funes explained that this is a very important part of the 
IPSVT program because there is almost no reliable information 
available in Honduras on the trafficking issue.  Finally, 
Funes and Perdomo expressed difficulty in identifying victims 
of trafficking.   Part of the source of this problem, 
according to Funes, was that victims do not fully understand 
their rights and so may not realize they had been a victim of 
human trafficking.  IPSVT has created a worksheet that will 
help implementing partners and government agencies better 
identify the characteristics of a victim.  It appears the 
grantee has taken action and made plans in order to 
effectively deal with these challenges. 
 
¶5. (U) CHF International reports that while the political 
crisis in Honduras following the June 28 coup d'etat has 
created a tense environment for humanitarian and other 
similar projects, the IPSVT project has been well-received by 
thepublic, and given positive press coverage.  Based on the 
site visit and the status of the program, it appears that the 
network established through the IPSVT program could be 
sustainable in an informal manner.  However, it is not 
plausible that the grantee's activity is sustainable without 
economic resources for the implementing partners. 
 
¶6. (U) This site visit did not include a visit to the 
implementing partners, only to the grantee's offices.  Poloff 
will visit the implementing partners once they are fully 
operational. Based on its activities so far, it appears that 
CHF has the capacity and qualifications to continue with this 
project.  CHF appears to be media-savvy and well-organized in 
their initial six months of operating IPSVT.  CHF told Poloff 
during the visit on November 17 that they had received some 
pushback from implementing partners over the CHF requirement 
that the implementing partners maintain a separate bank 
account given that the implementing partners were accustomed 
to mixing money of different sources.  However, CHF reported 
that they have worked through this issue and as with all 
their projects, required that implementing partners attend a 
financial management training session before any funds are 
dispersed. 
 
¶7. (U) CHF expressed to Poloff that G/TIP could help the 
IPSVT project by responding in the most expeditious manner to 
their request for approval of Casa Alianza as an additional 
implementing partner.  CHF and Casa Alianza are ready to sign 
a memo of understanding, however they are awaiting a response 
from G/TIP. 
 
¶8. (U) As set forth in the 2008 Trafficking in Persons report 
on Honduras, the IPSVT program by CHF addresses key 
deficiencies in the areas of victim assistance and prevention 
activities through education.  Most notably, the CHF program 
will create a system of shelter-like care at three sites in 
Tegucigalpa and two sites in San Pedro Sula.  Until now, 
there are no government operated shelters.  Gaps remain in 
the TIP assistance programs in the area of trafficking for 
labor reasons because that Honduran law does still does not 
explicitly prohibit it. 
 
CONCLUSION 
----------------- 
 
¶9. (U) The G/TIP funded "Integrated Services Program of 
Protection for Victims of Trafficking" (IPSVT) operated by 
CHF is on track to establish the first network of services 
for victims of trafficking in Honduras.  The site visit by 
Poloff on November 17 showed CHF to be a professional, 
dedicated, and conscientious team committed to the success of 
the G/TIP program.  Based on the first six months of 
implementation of this program by CHF, post believes it can 
be considered a viable candidate for additional funding 
beyond the project period. 
LLORENS