US embassy cable - 05HANOI207

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000207 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/RSP, G/TIP, EAP/BCLTV 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, ELAB, SMIG, EAID, KCRM, KFRD, VM, TIP 
SUBJECT:  VIETNAM: FY2005 NON LAW ENFORCEMENT TIP PROPOSALS 
 
REF:  A. 04 State 264199 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary and Comment: The Mission's Anti- 
Trafficking Working Group has identified two project 
proposals for activities aimed at empowering women and 
combating trafficking in women and children in and from 
Vietnam that are especially deserving of funding.  Nine 
project proposals were submitted.  The two recommended 
projects total USD 750,000.  Our top priority is an 
ambitious proposal to conduct a nationwide baseline survey 
to obtain data that can be used to measure the impact of all 
future trafficking interventions in Vietnam.  Vietnam 
currently lacks any baseline data on trafficking; the entire 
Vietnamese and international anti-trafficking community 
operates on the assumption that trafficking in Vietnam is a 
"big problem."  Without decent data on the character and 
scope of the problem, the main trafficking vectors, the 
crossing points, the victims, the traffickers and the 
trends, it remains impossible to gauge the effectiveness of 
any anti-trafficking programs.  The second priority project 
is The Asia Foundation's continuation of its valuable work 
in anti-trafficking in Vietnam. 
 
2. (SBU) Summary and Comment, cont'd: The proposals we 
received reflected the relatively underdeveloped state of 
the NGO community in Vietnam.  While large international 
organizations such as IOM and UNICEF submitted visually 
impressive and well-drafted proposals, many of the NGO 
proposals were relatively roughly prepared.  This reflects 
the lower capacity of local NGOs.  Nonetheless, the 
Mission's top recommendation is a local NGO's project.  If 
Washington determines that this proposal has merit, Post 
will have to work closely with the NGO to create both a more 
rigorous and reasonable budget and an effective system of 
monitoring and evaluation.  Encouraging the development of 
indigenous NGOs is consistent with our MPP, and building 
capacity in the anti-trafficking NGO sector is essential to 
fighting the anti-trafficking problem in Vietnam.  We will 
also have to work with this NGO to ensure that they have 
secured the necessary cooperation from the GVN to make this 
project successful.  This will be more work than an off-the- 
shelf proposal from a large expatriate-run NGO or IO, but it 
will pay off in results.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
3. (U) The Mission received a total of nine proposals in 
response to reftel request for TIP proposals sent out in 
December.  The proposals were from a diverse group of 
organizations.  Large, expatriate-run organizations such as 
The Asia Foundation, IOM and UNICEF submitted proposals, but 
so did several small Vietnamese NGOs.  The projects are also 
diverse in terms of geography.   Post recommends below the 
top two proposals for funding in FY05, and will provide 
copies of all received proposals to EAP and G/TIP by email. 
 
BEGIN RANK-ORDERED PROJECT SUMMARIES 
------------------------------------ 
 
1. Baseline Data Collection and Analyses for Combating 
Trafficking in Persons in Vietnam under the Coordinated 
Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking -- USD 
450,000 
 
This is by far the least "sexy" of the projects but, in 
Post's opinion, the most useful and necessary one.  The 
recipient organization is the small Hanoi-based NGO/think 
tank Institute for Social Development Studies.  It is run by 
Dr. Le Bach Duong, a U.S.-educated researcher who has worked 
on trafficking and related issues for years.  In particular, 
Duong was the author of one of the few decent studies done 
on child prostitution in Vietnam. 
 
Duong's project fills a critical need in the anti- 
trafficking environment: it aims to provide empirical 
information that can be used for planning, designing, 
monitoring and evaluating future intervention programs. 
 
At the moment, no good data exist on trafficking in Vietnam. 
We have only two kinds of data:  anecdotal evidence and a 
set of statistics supplied by MPS in 2003 and 2004 that is 
based on police records and thus badly underreports 
trafficking cases.  The international community - and the 
GVN - spends millions of dollars on anti-trafficking on the 
basis of assumptions and cannot evaluate the impact of 
programs due to a lack of baseline data.  This project would 
improve every other future trafficking project in Vietnam. 
 
2. Enhanced Strategies for Anti-Trafficking in Vietnam -- 
USD 300,000 
 
This is The Asia Foundation's submission.  It builds on 
their existing anti-trafficking projects in An Giang and 
Quang Ninh Provinces and aims to expand and deepen the 
effects of both of those projects.  It employs experienced 
staff and tested models and strategies, but also breaks new 
ground in its effort to focus on how the allocation of 
public resources at the local level can have an effect on 
women at risk of being trafficked. 
 
This project is aimed at the prevention of trafficking and 
the rehabilitation and reintegration of returned trafficking 
victims.  The project's primary activities will be: 
- Awareness-raising, using innovative techniques such as 
community theater; 
- Promotion of regional coordination by expanding on TAF's 
work in bringing together provincial and local officials and 
civil society groups from border provinces in Cambodia and 
Vietnam; 
- A push for direction of resources towards vulnerable women 
at the local level, taking advantage of the "grassroots 
democracy" initiative that provides local jurisdictions more 
control over their budgets. 
 
The project covers north, central and south Vietnam, in the 
provinces of Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, An Giang and 
Can Tho. 
 
3. Support the Victims with Care and Rehabilitation and 
Reduce the Risks of Woman Trafficking -- USD 111,000 
 
This submission comes in jointly from two small Hanoi NGOs: 
the STDs/HIV/AIDS Prevention Center (SHAPC) and the Research 
Center for Gender and Development (RCGAD).  It is a 
prevention/rehabilitation/reintegration project focused on 
the trafficking "highways" through Lang Son and Quang Ninh 
Provinces in the north.  The project plans to: 
- Raise awareness through the production and dissemination 
of IEC (information, education, communication) materials. 
Raw material for IEC materials is going to come from victims 
and vulnerable groups as well as from a series of surveys, 
which will also form the baseline from which to measure the 
project's impact.  Orientation workshops for officials and 
civil society representatives will also be a part of 
awareness-raising activities. 
- Reception and care for victims returned to Vietnam through 
border gates.  The project would establish counseling rooms 
where returnees would receive counseling and health care and 
begin the process of reintegrating into society. 
- Establish a network of community-based educators in the 
two provinces pulled from the ranks of vulnerable women and 
the Women's Union.  These will be available for at-risk 
women in the provinces as well as to staff the counseling 
rooms at the border gates and be the primary staff for 
awareness-raising efforts. 
- Support returnees through individual counseling, 
vocational training and credit where appropriate, and the 
establishment of "safe family clubs" to provide community 
and peer support. 
 
The modest budget (no expatriate staff) and well-targeted 
intervention make this proposal attractive, as do the solid 
partnership relationships with local organizations.  The 
monitoring and evaluation portion of this project was also 
well thought-through. 
 
4. Comprehensive Intervention to Combat Trafficking in 
Persons in the Areas of Northern Border of Vietnam -- USD 
160,000 
 
This is the submission of a Hanoi NGO/think tank called the 
Center for Community Development.  The Center's head is Dr. 
Tran Duy Luan, who is also the director of the Institute for 
Sociology at the National Center for Social Sciences and the 
Humanities, a rough equivalent to the Division of Behavioral 
and Social Sciences and Education at the U.S. National 
Academy of Sciences. 
 
This project is also a prevention/rehabilitation/ 
reintegration project with a capacity-building component for 
local authorities.  It is focused on two high-risk districts 
in Lang Son Province.  Primary activities will be: 
- Perform a baseline survey of victims and potential 
victims.  Use victim information to draft IEC materials and 
distribute those materials in public campaigns.  Provide 
training to populations on the risks of trafficking. 
- Provide intensive training on combating trafficking to 
community leaders, law enforcement officers and mass 
organizations, with training tailored to integrate with the 
results of the baseline survey.  Create an anti-trafficking 
network within the communities to identify trafficking risks 
and respond appropriately.  Establish a counseling service 
with a hotline as a focus point for any trafficking-related 
information and to facilitate rehabilitation of victims. 
- Provide subsidized health care for victims and establish 
friends-help-friends community groups to assist in 
reintegrating victims.  Provide vocational training and low- 
interest loans as appropriate for returned victims. 
 
One of this project's strengths is its performance 
indicators and monitoring plan.  The project describes 
excellent measuring and verification tools such as pre- and 
post-training surveys, monitoring leadership attitudes 
through interviews and collection of statistics.  This 
project is similar to project 3 but covers a more narrow 
geographic area. 
 
5. Prevention and Protection of Children and Women Against 
Human Trafficking - USD 500,000 
 
UNICEF submitted this three-year project.  It is not clear 
from the proposal where the project sites will be located. 
 
Primary activities: 
- Strengthen and develop the national plan of action on 
trafficking and provide training for GVN and community 
service providers in responding to trafficking.  Develop 
community protection models and strengthen cross-border 
prevention and protection mechanisms with Cambodia. 
- Raise public awareness through IEC campaigns and improve 
available data through surveys. 
- Establish three receiving/recovery centers, provide 
counseling, prevention and reintegration services and open a 
hotline. 
 
Performance indicators are adequate for this project, 
although description of monitoring and evaluation plans is 
thin.  The project is quite expensive, and includes 12 
percent for UNICEF headquarters as well as six percent for 
UNICEF's project management fees. 
 
6. Community Involvement in Prevention of Trafficking in 
Women and Girls in Lang Son - USD 133,000 
 
Another Lang Son proposal, this one from the Hanoi NGO 
Centre for Reproductive and Family Health.  RAFH has already 
done a similar project in Quang Ninh Province, so we know 
they have the expertise.  This is a prevention/protection 
project.  Primary activities: 
- Organize an orientation workshop and set up an anti- 
trafficking network for local authorities and mass 
organizations. 
- Set up a counseling center for victims and create friend- 
help-friend clubs for the victims in each commune.  - 
Provide vocational training courses and health care for the 
victims.  Set up training courses for returned victims to 
help them avoid re-trafficking. 
- Develop and distribute IEC materials and hold training 
courses for anti-trafficking network members. 
 
RAFH's performance indicators are good and the monitoring 
and evaluation portion has been considered.  The costs are 
relatively low for the project.  We can report from 
experience, however, that RAFH is somewhat fond of expensive 
written materials, brochures, booklets, posters, etc., and 
in this project the development and printing of IEC 
materials are a relatively large part of the budget - more 
than USD 60,000.  This is an indication of RAFH's priorities 
and the reason we ranked this one below the other two Lang 
Son projects with similar goals. 
 
7. Rehabilitation and Reception of Trafficked Children in 
Dong Thap Province - USD 476,000 
 
IOM Hanoi submitted this project, which is aimed at setting 
up a rehabilitation and reception center in the southern 
border province of Dong Thap, as well as developing the 
skills of counselors and other officials and establishing an 
awareness-raising program.  IOM already manages one such 
shelter - called the Little Rose Shelter - with USG money in 
Ho Chi Minh City.  Another similar project, incorporating 
job and vocational training, is in its early stages in 
northeastern Vietnam.  Primary activities: 
- Set up the rehabilitation and reception center, which is 
scaled to help 100 trafficking victims over two years; 
create health and psychosocial care and referral mechanisms. 
- Build the capacity of the counselors and caregivers of the 
Commision on Population, Families and Children in Dong Thap. 
- Carry out an awareness-raising program to prevent 
trafficking and re-trafficking. 
 
The project is narrowly focused and extremely expensive. 
IOM lists the center as helping 100 trafficked children, and 
the training and capacity building reaching 31 counselors 
and 20 provincial government staff.  Project office and 
staff costs, including IOM staff, is more than one-third of 
the total budget.  More can be done with less. 
 
8. Theater for Action - Drama as a Means to Minimize 
Trafficking of Women and Children in Vietnam -- USD 131,000 
 
This is innovative awareness-raising project is from the 
Mobility Research and Support Center in Ho Chi Minh City, a 
small NGO.  MRSC has been active in the anti-trafficking 
field for years and produced useful literature on the 
phenomenon of arranged marriages between foreign men and 
Vietnamese Women called Marriages of Convenience.  Primary 
activities: 
- Recruit members of vulnerable groups in high-risk 
communities to develop theater performances to entertain and 
communicate the dangers and issues related to trafficking 
and domestic violence.  Record the performances and then 
work with other NGOs to distribute the best performances 
nationally. 
 
This is a good NGO with a creative approach to the awareness- 
raising problem, with a strong chance of successfully 
implementing the program and having an impact.  We did not 
rank them higher because MRSC is focused very narrowly on 
the issue of marriage to Taiwanese men as a form of 
trafficking - an extreme interpretation of a phenomenon we 
have examined and found does not meet the definition of 
trafficking.  More importantly, the Asia Foundation proposal 
(number 2 above) has a similar awareness-raising component, 
and plans to work with MRSC to execute it - so it would 
still be possible to support this organization's work. 
 
9. Raising Public Awareness and Preventing Trafficking in 
Persons between Border of Kampuchea and Vietnam - USD 
293,000 
 
This project was submitted by the Department of Social Work 
of the Open University in HCMC.  The Department states in 
its proposal that it has experience organizing awareness- 
raising and prevention activities in HCMC dating from 1995- 
2000, although we have not heard of these activities in 
Hanoi.  The project targets HCMC plus Can Tho, Soc Trang, 
Kien Giang and Tay Ninh Provinces. 
 
Primary activities will be: 
- Awareness-raising through unspecified "social activities" 
in target areas. 
- Development of knowledge and skills of social and 
community development workers to facilitate cooperation in 
anti-trafficking.  Organization of "advocacy activities" 
with NGOs and local government officials. 
- Establishment of "drop-in" centers in five provinces to 
help victims of trafficking. 
- Organization of workshops on awareness in five provinces 
and short-term training courses in "emergency socio- 
psychological support and social activities for victims".  - 
Organization of (unspecified) "prevention activities". 
- Local networking. 
 
The specifics of this proposal's activities are a little 
thin and the budget is not an extremely useful document. 
Likewise, the monitoring and evaluation component seems 
incomplete in some areas and unrealistic in others.  The 
biggest part of the budget is reserved for the salaries of 
two HCMC-based "project directors" whose connection to the 
project is unclear.  Still, the geographic area covered by 
this project is one that is in real need of anti-trafficking 
support. 
 
END PROJECT SUMMARIES. 
 
4. (SBU) Post would appreciate the Department's initial 
comments on submitted proposals as soon as possible in order 
to respond to the hopeful applicants.  Law-enforcement- 
related proposal will arrive septel. 
 
MARINE