VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAR #0029/01 0121631
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121631Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8748

UNCLAS ACCRA 000029 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KTIP KCRM KWMN GH
SUBJECT: SITE VISIT TO LEGAL RESOURCES CENTER, GHANA 
 
REF: STATE 57798 
 
UNCLASSIFIED 
NONE 01/11/2010 
CHARGE:JFURUTA-TOY 
POL:RWSTEPHENS,MBUNNELL 
POL: BSHUKAN 
AID AMB DCM ECON POL RAO RSO 
 
AMEMBASSY ACCRA 
SECSTATE WASHDC 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KTIP KCRM KWMN GH
SUBJECT: SITE VISIT TO LEGAL RESOURCES CENTER, GHANA 
 
REF: STATE 57798 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY: Per reftel, Poloff and Democracy and Human 
Rights Program Coordinator (DHRC) conducted a site visit 
December 17 at the Legal Resources Center (LRC) to assess 
the Center's progress in 
implementing its $400,000 two year G/TIP funded project. 
Six months after signing its grant agreement, LRC has made 
limited progress in meeting project requirements, holding 
just one training session for 28 
people. LRC has made little progress in providing the 
advisory and technical assistance to the GOG that is 
required by the grant, and has not begun the public 
awareness campaign to highlight the dangers of 
trafficking.  Of substantial concern to post, appeared 
unaware that the government,s Trafficking Management Board 
had been reconstituted in the Autumn.  If LRC is to achieve 
the ambitious objectives of this project, it will need to 
significantly step up the pace of its work.  Post plans to 
conduct more frequent oversight visits to assess and 
encourage progress toward grant benchmarks. END 
SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (U) On December 17, Emboffs visited the Legal Resources 
Center (LRC) to assess progress in meeting the requirements 
of the USG grant. Emboffs met with Executive Director 
Tuinese Edward Amuzu, Director of Programs Daphne Lariba 
Nabila, Legal Practitioner Dzifa Ami Gakpleazi, and 
Director of Finance 
and Administration Joseph Awekoli Asobayire. 
 
¶3. (U) (Note: The meeting was secured after some 
difficulty.  DHRC called the LRC on 
December 14 to schedule a meeting to discuss the FY 2009 
G/TIP grant. LRC staff appeared surprised to hear from the 
Embassy and put DHRC on hold for approximately five 
minutes before being disconnected.  DHRC re-established 
contact after several attempts and 
spoke with 
Dzifa Ami Gakpleazi who again asked for clarification of 
the purpose of the meeting. Dzifa said she needed to 
receive approval from her boss before scheduling a meeting. 
End Note.) 
 
¶4.  (U) LRC signed an agreement with G/TIP on June 4, 2009 
for the $400,000 two-year project. The Statement of Work 
requires LRC to implement seven specific objectives, 
including conducting specialized training for law 
enforcement officials, prosecutors, immigration and customs 
officials, defense lawyers, and the judiciary. The 
agreement also requires LRC to serve as a standing legal 
resource for Ghana,s Trafficking Management Board, assist 
the Ministry of Women and Children,s Affairs (MOWAC) with a 
shelter project and to develop guidelines to handle 
victims, publicize the prosecution of trafficking cases, 
and provide technical assistance to the Attorney General's 
office to reform current TIP laws. 
 
Training: 
--------- 
 
¶5.  (U) The only area in which LRC has taken concrete steps 
to implement the G/TIP grant concerns training, and it does 
not appear to be on track at this point to meet the 
agreement,s ambitious training requirements.  The agreement 
requires the Center to conduct six two-to-five-day training 
sessions per year for a total of 12 training sessions 
through which 600 individuals (immigration officials, law 
enforcement, prosecutors, and judges) will be trained. 
After six months, the LRC has conducted one two-day 
training session and has one training session scheduled for 
January 2010. The Center invited 50 
people to the training session conducted in September, and 
28 people participated. Not all participants were present 
on both days. 
¶6.  (U) The agreement also requires LRC to develop and 
implement a training curriculum for Ghanaian peacekeepers. 
In addition, LRC is required to train (4 sessions per year, 8 
total) 
400 additional police and military personnel.  The LRC has 
not yet conducted this training, nor has it scheduled 
seminars. The Center is also required to develop and 
implement  a sustainable training system within the 
Military Academy and Police Training School but has not yet 
developed the curriculum. 
 
Legal Resource & Advisory Obligations: 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) At this stage LRC has demonstrated no progress in 
implementing its obligations to serve as a resource and 
advisor to the Ghanaian government to strengthen 
anti-trafficking activities.  The agreement requires LRC to 
serve as advisors to the GOG Trafficking Management Board, 
to advise MOWAC on the protection of victims, and to 
provide technical assistance to the Attorney General to 
update anti-trafficking legislation. When Poloff asked the 
LRC Executive Director what actions the 
Center has taken to assist the Board, the Executive 
Director responded vaguely about being in touch with 
the board. After further discussion, it became clear that 
LRC has had no communication with the Board 
and was in fact unaware that the Board had been 
reconstituted in early Autumn by the current government. 
(Note: The prior Trafficking Management Board was dissolved 
when the new administration 
took office in January 2009. End Note). 
 
¶8. (U) Emboffs asked about the Center's efforts to develop 
comprehensive guidelines for victims' assistance and 
referrals as part of the Shelter Project of the Ministry of 
Women and Children (MOWAC). LRC did not provide any 
evidence that it has begun working with MOWAC on shelter or 
victim assistance issues, nor did it provide evidence that 
it has begun working with the Attorney General on 
legislative reform. 
 
Public Awareness: 
----------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) The agreement requires LRC to conduct a public 
awareness campaign to publicize prosecutions and sensitize 
the general public on the dangers of human trafficking and 
laws that deal with trafficking. However, at the December 
17 meeting, LRC staff provided no indication of 
preparations for the media campaign. 
 
The Way Forward: 
---------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) Following this initial site visit, our impression 
is that LRC is not on track to meet the ambitious 
requirements of the G/TIP grant.  If LRC continues at this 
pace it will be difficult to meet grant requirements within 
the two year time frame.  The quality of LRC,s written 
material appears to be quite high (we were impressed, for 
example, by the PowerPoint slides LRC used in its first 
training session), but this level of quality does not 
appear representative of how LRC is implementing the 
project. LRC needs to be more pro-active in engaging 
government agencies with which they are required to 
collaborate, and needs a greater sense of urgency in its 
approach to implementing the numerous requirements of this 
project.  In the only area that it has made progress, 
training, it does not appear remotely close to meeting the 
project targets.   Going forward, post plans to conduct 
more regular oversight visits with LRC, using a structured 
checklist to measure implementation of the project.  To 
provide incentives and ensure compliance, we also recommend 
that payment disbursements be tied to progress reported in 
these Embassy assessments. 
 
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FURUTA-TOY