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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 000190 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP KWMN PREL OTRA ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA - FIRST LADY TELLS U/S OTERO OF FGM PROGRESS, TIP 
CHALLENGES 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (U) In a January 30 meeting, Ethiopian First Lady Azeb Mesfin 
told Under Secretary of State Maria Otero that after four years of 
intensive engagement with community and religious leaders in the 
Afar region, her efforts on behalf of the Ethiopian Government (GoE) 
have prompted a significant reduction in Female Genital Mutilation 
(FGM).  Despite the Ethiopian parliament having passed a law on 
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) last year, however, Azeb acknowledged 
that human trafficking from Ethiopia remains a challenge.  The 
meeting highlighted a potentially strong advocate and partner for 
U.S. collaboration within the GoE for addressing trafficking and 
women's issues.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs 
Maria Otero held a 75 minute meeting with Ethiopian First Lady and 
Member of Parliament Azeb Mesfin on January 30 on the margins of the 
African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.  Azeb was joined by Ms. 
Netsanet Asfaw, Member of Parliament.  Under Secretary Otero was 
accompanied by Charge d'Affaires John Yates, USAID/Ethiopia Mission 
Director Tom Staal, Special Advisor and Special Assistant to the 
Under Secretary, P/ECouns, and notetaker. 
 
MAKING PROGRESS ON FGM IN AFAR 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (U) Azeb noted that FGM remains prominent in the Muslim-dominated 
Afar and Somali regions of Ethiopia, where it is largely perpetuated 
by women themselves who target girls as early as seven years old in 
this traditional rite.  Both Azeb and Netsanet argued that FGM was 
so prominent in Afar due to the region's local interpretation of 
elements of the Quran. 
 
¶4. (U) Azeb noted that over the past four years, she has actively 
engaged to raise community awareness about, and stem the tide of, 
such practices.  As a result of her active interventions, community 
discussions and debates, and advocacy, Azeb reported that Afari 
regional leaders have now declared FGM to be a "Haram," or a 
forbidden practice.  By engaging religious leaders, Azeb and other 
advocates against FGM were able to secure such a shift in local 
interpretation of what had been seen as a "Quranic practice."  Azeb 
highlighted that, when it comes to countering FGM, communication 
remains "a best practice," noting the importance of engaging both 
women and men.  Azeb proudly commented how one can now find Afari 
girls who have not been mutilated.  While the practice remains 
widespread in the Somali region, Azeb argued that she and other role 
models had to select one area in which to focus first, but that with 
tangible progress in Afar they can soon begin focusing on spreading 
their efforts to the more conflict-prone Somali region. 
 
DESPITE NEW LAW, TRAFFICKING REMAINS A CHALLENGE 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5. (U) While Netsanet initially highlighted strong programs within 
the Ethiopian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA) to 
facilitate bona fide work overseas for Ethiopians, suggesting that 
trafficking was a more discrete problem, First Lady Azeb immediately 
corrected her in arguing that "the problem of trafficking is getting 
large" with Ethiopian women being sent all over the world.  At the 
same time, Azeb highlighted that the Ethiopian parliament recently 
passed a law on human trafficking.  Still, the new law is not 
enough; Ethiopians need more information about the threat of 
trafficking, Azeb argued. 
 
¶6. (U) In response to the First Lady's question as to how the United 
States responds to the challenge of trafficking in persons, U/S 
Otero discussed the "three P's" of Protection, Prevention, and 
Prosecution through the combination of awareness raising, 
improvement of laws, and the provision of social services.  U/S 
Otero also highlighted the technical assistance that the USG 
provides to other countries for the development of laws to counter 
TIP, training of police on identification and response to TIP cases, 
and awareness raising.  The Under Secretary noted the challenge of 
domestic labor trafficking, stressing the need for not only 
awareness raising about workers' rights, but also the need to 
provide training in domestic skills to further empower domestic 
workers within Ethiopia.  She also highlighted grants provided by 
the State Department to NGOs around the world to help girls who have 
been trafficked and to improve prosecution.  Finally, U/S Otero 
noted the Department's annual TIP reports as a means of tracking 
progress and areas for expanded engagement around the world. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Under Secretary Otero's conversation with First Lady Azeb 
Mesfin highlighted some of the positive progress that Ethiopia has 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00000190  002 OF 002 
 
 
seen in recent years in countering FGM and TIP.  Certainly the 
United States deserves a portion of the credit for the positive 
progress observed in countering FGM in Afar due to a prominent grant 
from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) to 
counter this barbaric rite working through Project Concern 
International (PCI).  Conflict and tensions between "highlanders" 
and Somalis in the Somali region, however, will certainly make 
countering FGM a more challenging endeavor there. 
 
¶8. (SBU) On the TIP front, Foreign Ministry officials have begun 
engaging Embassy Officers in recent months to discuss collaboration 
to increase awareness raising of TIP issues among the Ethiopian 
diplomatic corps posted overseas, as have Ministry of Justice 
officials regarding training for prosecutors and judges.  Such 
activism may soon present opportunities to resume USAID assistance 
to Ethiopia to counter trafficking.  (Note: until FY-2006, Ethiopia 
had received roughly $250,000 annually to address TIP, but no such 
funding has been forthcoming in the last few years.  Ethiopia is a 
designated priority country for the U.S. Department of State, and 
the G/TIP office currently is providing assistance to PCI to address 
the issue.  End Note.)  Regardless of the conducive environment for 
countering TIP and FGM in Ethiopia, however, the restrictive 
Charities and Societies Proclamation (or CSO Law) passed in January 
2009 prohibits foreign assistance from supporting activities that 
discuss or educate individuals about their rights, thus limiting our 
ability to engage comprehensively on these issues without a waiver 
of the law from the GoE.  Embassy Addis Ababa will, however, 
continue to explore ways to collaboration and support Ethiopian 
efforts against FGM and trafficking.  End Comment. 
 
¶9. (U) Under Secretary Otero approved this cable. 
 
YATES