US embassy cable - 02ABUJA1809

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 ABUJA 001809 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, AF, INL, DRL, AND PRM 
 
 
DOL FOR ILAB 
 
 
E.O. 12598:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KCRM, KWMN, NI, TO, GH, BF, IV, XX, GN 
SUBJECT:  WEST AFRICAN TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS STRATEGY 
 
1. This final draft regional strategy to address 
Trafficking in Persons in West Africa is presented to 
Department's African Affairs Bureau for endorsement. 
This strategy was reflects a consensus among nine 
embassies and several Washington agencies and bureaus 
(DRL, G/TIP, USAID/WID) represented at a December 2001 
conference on TIP held in Lagos.  This draft was 
cleared with Embassies Abidjan, Abuja, Accra, Bamako, 
Conakry, Cotonou, Libreville, Lome, and Ouagadougou. 
 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
- 
The AF Bureau's West Africa Regional Strategy to 
Combat Trafficking in Persons 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
 
2. Summary:  The serious human rights crime of 
Trafficking in Persons appears on the rise in West and 
Central Africa and confronting this problem is a USG 
priority.  Through this strategy, U.S. Missions in the 
region will employ limited USG resources to engage 
host governments, NGOs and regional organizations to 
implement effective actions aimed at prosecuting 
traffickers and their accomplices, protecting rescued 
and repatriated trafficking victims and preventing the 
occurrence of new trafficking incidents.  The African 
Affairs Bureau and Office to Monitor and Combat 
Trafficking in Persons will guide Missions in the 
region and coordinate the allocation of resources. 
End Summary 
 
 
 
 
A. Strategic Goal 
----------------- 
 
 
3. "U.S. Missions in West and Central Africa will help 
host governments, regional organizations, and NGOs to 
develop and strengthen the mechanisms necessary to 
reduce the incidence of trafficking in persons in the 
region." 
 
 
4. This goal should be incorporated into Mission 
Performance Plans of Missions throughout the region as 
a sub-goal/objective under MPP Goals "DE - Democracy" 
and "IC - International Crime." 
 
 
B. Introduction 
--------------- 
 
 
5. According to UNICEF, hundreds of thousands of 
persons, especially women and children from West and 
Central Africa, have become victims of trafficking for 
forced labor exploitation every year.  Described by 
Secretary Powell as, "one of the most egregious human 
 
SIPDIS 
rights violations," trafficking is one of the fastest 
growing and most profitable criminal enterprises 
throughout the world.  During his address at the 
recently released Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, 
Secretary Powell stated that there are at least 
 
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700,000 new victims of trafficking worldwide each 
year.  Considered a serious human and worker rights 
problem in West and Central Africa, trafficking 
appears to be on the rise and is fueled by on-going 
adverse social and economic conditions in the region. 
Ending this transnational human rights crime is a 
priority for the Bush Administration. 
 
 
6. As women and children are the primary targets of 
trafficking, the AF Bureau will work with our West 
African posts to raise host country and international 
awareness of the vulnerability of these female and 
child populations.  The Governments of Benin, Burkina 
Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Gabon, Mali, 
Nigeria and Togo have shown signs of greater 
awareness, and to varying degrees, are actively 
engaged in combating the problem.  Forms of child 
trafficking include the traditional practice of child 
placement for work in the informal commercial sector, 
agricultural work, domestic servitude, and begging. 
The trafficking of women tends to be primarily for 
sexual exploitation and is often conducted by 
traditional criminal elements.  Though the forms and 
destinations of trafficking vary widely, trafficking 
victims often work in very difficult and hazardous 
conditions and in some instances are essentially 
slaves, held against their will and receiving little 
or no wages.  Many women and girls who are victims of 
trafficking find themselves working in the commercial 
sex industry in Africa and Europe.  Criminal elements 
frequently use deception and false advertising to 
recruit these female victims of trafficking. 
 
 
7. The US must work cooperatively with host country 
governments in devising clear short- and long-term 
strategies to legislate against, enforce and prosecute 
the traffickers who engage in the buying and selling 
of persons.  Mechanisms must be put in place to 
educate the population concerning the methods 
recruiters use.  We must also work to rescue those 
victims of trafficking who are able to escape and who 
need protection, education or training in order to be 
reintegrated into society and lead normal, productive 
lives.  Prevention efforts aimed at addressing some of 
the root causes of trafficking, such as lack of 
adequate economic opportunities, will also be 
emphasized. 
 
 
8. In order to effectively combat trafficking in West 
Africa (and by extension to Africa as a whole) there 
is a clear need for a coordinated and integrated 
regional approach.  The AF Bureau, in partnership with 
G/TIP, INL, DRL, PRM, and IO, is launching a 
comprehensive regional strategy to combat trafficking 
of persons in West Africa.  This strategy will be 
coordinated through the regional trafficking 
coordinator in Lagos, posts in countries most affected 
by TIP, USG agencies and international donor efforts. 
Given the limited available resources and many 
competing demands, it is important to pursue an 
approach that seeks to identify those areas that will 
ensure the maximum effect, to complement existing 
efforts, and to find out from West African governments 
what they think would help. 
 
 
C. Bureau Strategy 
------------------ 
 
 
9. Definition and Scope: This strategy will use the 
definition of trafficking in persons incorporated in 
the UN Transnational Crime Convention's Protocol on 
Trafficking in Persons: 
 
 
 
 
"The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring 
or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use 
of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of 
fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a 
position of vulnerability or the giving or receiving 
of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a 
person having control over another person, for the 
purpose of exploitation.   Exploitation shall include, 
at a minimum, the exploitation or the prostitution of 
others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced 
labor or services, slavery or practices similar to 
slavery, servitude or the removal of organs." 
 
 
 
 
10. Trafficking in the West and Central African sub- 
region is a term broadly interpreted that can include 
prostitution and the traditional "home-work" or 
placement of children in the informal domestic labor 
sector.  Regarding the sex trade, for the purposes of 
this strategy we will focus on the trafficking of 
girls and women for the sex trade where clear force, 
coercion or deception is involved - avoiding voluntary 
prostitution, which is prevalent throughout the sub- 
region.  We will also focus on transnational child 
trafficking for labor exploitation, such as work on 
cocoa farms in Cote d'Ivoire, and for domestic 
servitude and work in the informal commercial sector 
in Gabon, Benin and eastern Nigeria.  While the 
placement of children (l'enfant placement) as domestic 
servants is a form of child labor and fits the UN 
definition of trafficking, it is a complex issue 
tangled in culturally-accepted traditions not lending 
itself to easy and clear-cut definition or simple 
policy formulation.  Indeed, many NGOs and government 
agencies do not accept that the traditional placement 
of children with relatives or friends in their own 
countries in order to provide a child with necessary 
protection and vocational skills is a form of 
trafficking.  Terres des Hommes, an International NGO 
that has worked on child labor and trafficking issues 
for several years throughout West Africa, does not as 
a matter of policy consider "Vidomegon" ("child in 
trust") in Benin, "Trokosi" in Ghana, and similar 
child placement practices elsewhere in the region as 
trafficking. 
 
 
11. In light of this lack of consensus on whether 
intra-national child placement constitutes trafficking 
and the limits on USG resources, this strategy will 
concentrate on the following two forms of trafficking: 
 
 
-- Transnational Child Trafficking for Labor; and 
 
 
--Child and Women Trafficking for forced commercial 
sexual exploitation (largely Nigeria) 
 
 
 
 
D. Background 
------------- 
 
 
12. The Intelligence Community is currently working on 
determining the precise number of persons trafficked 
for labor exploitation from and within Africa.  UNICEF 
estimates that approximately 200,000 children are 
trafficked annually within West and Central Africa. 
According to Nigerian and Italian government 
estimates, 7-10,000 Nigerian women and girls are 
trafficked to Italy each year, mostly through 
neighboring West African countries.  An unknown but 
significant number of Nigerian women are trafficked 
for sexual exploitation to other European countries, 
including the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and the UK. 
These disparate figures reflect the dearth of 
information on the scope and complexity of Africa's 
unique trafficking problems. 
 
 
13. NGOs and international organizations such as the 
ILO and UNICEF report that thousands of children and 
women are trafficked each year within Africa to work 
in domestic services, on agricultural plantations, and 
in the informal sector.  Women and young girls from 
West Africa are trafficked to Europe to work in the 
commercial sex industry and as domestic servants. 
 
 
14. Through traditional practices many children are 
encouraged by their parents to leave home in search of 
work, or they are lured away from their homes by 
recruiters with promises of well-paying jobs and a 
brighter future for the children.  The recent 
discovery of a boat destined for Gabon carrying 131 
West African children (mostly Togolese) is an example 
of how traditional "placement" of children has been 
exploited to subject children, some as young as six 
years old, to travel unaccompanied to jobs in 
neighboring countries.  Such job offers are 
misrepresentations of the type of work they will 
perform.  To add to the complexity of the trafficking 
dynamic is the fact that porous borders make it 
difficult to distinguish between illegal and 
legitimate family cross-border migration. 
 
 
15. Trafficking is a complex reality often with 
informal, secretive networks.  West and Central 
African countries can be divided into three major 
categories in the trafficking circuit: "source" or 
"sending" countries, "transit," and "destination" 
countries.  Within the sub-region, Benin, Burkina 
Faso, Ghana, and Nigeria fall into all three 
categories. 
 
 
16. Poverty is a common denominator within the West 
and Central African countries that have significant 
trafficking problems.  For families living below the 
poverty line, the motive for sending a child to live 
with friends or relatives to work or to learn trades 
is often economic.  Other factors that contribute to 
the increased incidence of trafficking are the adult 
unemployment rate, insufficient public investment in 
essential economic and social services (especially 
education) and a paucity of vocational and economic 
opportunities for youth in rural areas.  Many families 
are unaware of the risks involved in trafficking, 
including the possibilities of serious maltreatment, 
sexual exploitation, rape, psychological and/or 
physical abuse or the sale of a child by the person 
originally entrusted with him/her. 
 
 
E. Country Profiles 
------------------- 
 
 
17. The following are brief profiles of trafficking in 
key countries of the region: 
 
 
Benin 
----- 
 
 
18. Benin is a source, transit and destination country 
for trafficked persons, primarily children. 
Trafficking also occurs within Benin.  Beninese 
children are trafficked to Ghana, Nigeria, and Gabon 
for indentured or domestic servitude, work in the 
informal commercial sector, farm labor, and 
prostitution.  Children from Niger, Togo, and Burkina 
Faso have been trafficked to Benin for indentured or 
domestic servitude.  Internal trafficking of children 
in Benin takes place largely in connection with the 
traditional practice called "vidomegon," whereby poor 
families, often from rural areas, place a young child, 
usually a daughter, in the home of a more wealthy 
family to perform services for that family (often for 
as long as ten years, or until the child reaches 
adolescence).  The birth family thus avoids the 
economic burden the child otherwise represents, and 
expects the child to make contacts and develop life 
opportunities that would not have been available in 
their home environment.  This work arrangement is 
different from other forms of child trafficking in 
that videmegon is regarded as a private, voluntary 
agreement directly between the two families. 
 
 
Burkina Faso 
------------ 
 
 
19. Burkina Faso is a source, transit and destination 
country for internationally trafficked persons, 
including children.  Burkina Faso is an occasional 
source country for women who travel to Europe to work 
as domestics but, upon their arrival, are forced into 
sexual exploitation.  Burkina Faso is a transit 
country for trafficked children, notably from Mali. 
Children in transit from Mali are often destined for 
Cote d'Ivoire.  Trafficked Malian children are also 
destined for Burkina Faso.  Destinations for 
trafficked Burkinabe children include Cote d'Ivoire, 
Ghana and Nigeria.  In 1999, there were reports of 
trafficked Burkinabe children destined for Germany.  A 
significant number of children are trafficked within 
Burkina Faso. 
 
 
Cameroon 
-------- 
 
 
20. Cameroon is a source, transit, and destination 
country for internationally trafficked persons; 
trafficking also occurs within Cameroon.  Children are 
trafficked from and through Cameroon to other West 
African countries for indentured or domestic 
servitude, farm labor, and sexual exploitation.  Women 
are principally trafficked from Cameroon to Europe for 
sexual exploitation. 
 
 
Cote d'Ivoire 
------------- 
 
 
21. Cote d'Ivoire is a source and destination for 
internationally and domestically trafficked persons. 
Trafficking also occurs within Cote d'Ivoire. 
Ivoirian women and children are trafficked to more 
distant African, European, and Middle Eastern 
countries.  Children are trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire 
from Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ghana, Benin and Togo 
for indentured or domestic servitude, farm labor, and 
prostitution.  Women are principally trafficked from 
Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Asian countries to Cote 
d'Ivoire. 
 
 
Gabon 
----- 
 
 
22. Gabon is a destination country for trafficked 
persons, primarily children from West and Central 
Africa (specifically Benin, Togo and Nigeria) for 
domestic servitude and work in the informal commercial 
sector.   Gabon has a significant immigrant population 
(20% of total population), which serves to increase 
the number of children brought/sent to Gabon. 
 
 
Ghana 
----- 
 
 
23. Ghana is a source, transit and destination country 
for trafficked persons, primarily children. 
Trafficking of children for labor and sexual 
exploitation in the informal sector -- as porters, 
shop assistants, in mines and in fishing communities - 
- occurs internally, and sexual and physical abuse of 
these trafficked children occurs.  Trokosi is a form 
of religious servitude for a limited period of time, 
involving work and training in traditional religious 
practices at a fetish shrine in atonement for a crime 
allegedly committed by a member of the girl's family. 
Young women are trafficked to Europe and the Middle 
East for sexual exploitation.  Children between the 
ages of 7 and 17 are trafficked to and from the 
neighboring countries of Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, and 
Nigeria to work as farm workers, laborers or household 
help.   Children trafficked from Burkina Faso transit 
Ghana on the way to Cote d'Ivoire. 
Guinea 
------ 
 
 
24. Guinea's role in the regional trafficking in 
persons appears to be growing as a transit area for 
Nigerian girls and women trafficked to Europe for the 
sex trade.  In July 2001, Guinean police intercepted 
33 Nigerian girls and women in Conakry and arrested 15 
Nigerian traffickers attempting to smuggle the 33 
victims to Spain.  (The girls and women were 
repatriated to Nigeria in August and the traffickers 
were extradited to stand trial in Nigeria.) 
 
 
Mali 
---- 
 
 
25. Mali is a source and destination country for 
trafficked persons, primarily children.  Children from 
Mali are trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire to work on cotton 
and cocoa plantations or for domestic servitude. 
Women from Nigeria are trafficked to Mali for sexual 
exploitation. 
 
 
Nigeria 
------- 
 
 
26. Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination 
country for trafficked persons.  The majority of 
trafficking from Nigeria involves females destined for 
Europe; Italian authorities estimate that 18,000 
Nigerian prostitutes work in Italy, most of them the 
victims of traffickers.  Nigerians, primarily women 
and children, are also trafficked to work on farms or 
as domestic servants in other African countries, 
including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, 
and Benin.  Other significant destination countries 
for trafficked Nigerians include the Netherlands, the 
Czech Republic, Spain, France and the Middle East. 
Nigeria also serves as a transit hub for trafficking 
in West Africa and to a lesser extent, a destination 
point for young children from nearby West African 
countries.  There is also evidence of trafficking of 
children and women within Nigeria. 
 
 
Togo 
---- 
 
 
27. Togo is a source and transit country for 
trafficked persons, primarily children.  Togolese are 
trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, the 
Middle East (specifically Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), 
and Europe (primarily France and Germany) for 
indentured or domestic servitude, work in the informal 
commercial sector, farm labor and sexual exploitation. 
Children trafficked from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote 
d'Ivoire and Nigeria transit Togo. 
 
 
------------------------------------ 
The Four Pillars:  Three P's and a D 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
28. The Africa Bureau's strategy for addressing the 
Trafficking in Persons problem in West and Central 
Africa follows the USG's strategic framework laid out 
in the President's Executive Memorandum of March 11, 
1998.  This international strategy to combat 
Trafficking in Women and Children is commonly referred 
to as the "Three Ps," focusing USG efforts on: A) 
PROSECUTION of traffickers using the enforcement of 
existing laws; B) PREVENTION of trafficking of would- 
be victims in vulnerable source areas; and C) 
PROTECTION of trafficking victims through rescue, 
shelter and reintegration into society.   A fourth 
component of the Bureau strategy is a DIPLOMATIC 
approach targeted to raise the profile of this issue 
with high-level host government officials eliciting 
their support and input in order to enhance but not 
duplicate host governments' and others' initiatives. 
This diplomatic effort will precede the start of 
programs to promote Prevention, Prosecution and 
Protection goals and then will be pursued concurrently 
with these efforts. The second component of the 
diplomatic approach would be programmatic and would 
focus efforts to integrate anti-trafficking objectives 
into existing educational, democracy and good 
governance programs (particularly through USAID). 
 
 
PROSECUTION 
----------- 
 
 
29. The Bureau's anti-trafficking strategy for West 
Africa will encourage host governments to develop and 
implement country specific and regional action plans 
to combat trafficking, such as the National Action 
Plan to Combat Trafficking that Mali and Cote d'Ivoire 
have developed.  In December 2001, the heads of state 
of the Economic Community of West African States 
(ECOWAS) met in Dakar and formally adopted a 
resolution and plan of action to combat Trafficking in 
Persons.  The resolution and plan of action, both of 
which focus on developing uniform laws and enforcement 
efforts, had been developed during a special ECOWAS 
meeting on TIP in Accra October 23-24. 
 
 
30. Host governments should be encouraged to structure 
their laws to ensure the effective prosecution of 
those involved in trafficking in persons, distinct 
from any laws punishing those involved in voluntary 
prostitution.  Criminal charges and penalties for 
trafficking in persons - a crime involving coercion, 
force or deception - should be harsher than any crimes 
and penalties associated with prostitution or unforced 
child labor.  Efforts will involve USG programs 
designed to train and strengthen local law enforcement 
and criminal justice systems officials to more 
effectively apprehend and prosecute traffickers, to 
detect victims, and to cooperate regionally in these 
efforts.  Porous borders between countries with 
trafficking problems require training of law 
enforcement and criminal justice official to identify 
potential trafficking victims; e.g. large numbers of 
unaccompanied children.  Such training should also be 
extended to members of ECOWAS along with efforts to 
create an ECOWAS mechanism to unify regional 
enforcement efforts against TIP.  Posts and the Bureau 
should urge ECOWAS to follow up on implementation of 
the December 2001 Plan of Action Against Trafficking 
in Persons adopted at the ECOWAS Heads of State Summit 
in Dakar. 
 
 
PREVENTION 
---------- 
 
 
31. The vast majority of women and children trafficked 
within and out of West and Central Africa come from 
this same region.  Therefore, prevention programs 
designed to address at-risk source areas are key to 
the success of this strategy.  Prevention efforts, 
conducted in concert with host governments, our Peace 
Corps, international and local NGOs, and trade unions, 
will focus on increasing public awareness through a 
culturally appropriate public diplomacy campaign at 
the grass-roots level regarding the dangers of 
trafficking and providing information on the worst 
forms of child labor.  In order to curb the 
trafficking of persons, we need to focus resources on 
vulnerable or at-risk populations, especially young 
women and children before they become trafficking 
victims.  Missions would be asked to work with host 
governments, NGOs and parents, in determining the 
target audience and how best to reach them. 
 
 
32. Recognizing that a key cause of trafficking lies 
in the lack of alternative economic opportunities, we 
will work through existing DOL and USAID programs to 
help foster workforce development.  This strengthening 
of labor opportunities can take a number of forms, 
including micro-credit schemes, labor market 
information systems, and skills training. 
 
 
33. In the initial implementation stages of the 
Bureau's prevention strategy, the Bureau envisages 
that Public Diplomacy (PD), the Peace Corps, and the 
International Labor Organization (ILO) will be 
instrumental in getting the message out, increasing 
awareness and sensitivity to the issue, and 
identifying country-specific areas where USG 
assistance would be most useful.  NGOs and host 
governments should be encouraged to network with each 
other on best practices and coordinate anti- 
trafficking efforts such as research to study the 
magnitude and incidence of trafficking and trafficking 
patterns.  They should also be encouraged to 
collaborate with government agencies and other NGOs 
doing work in related areas such as micro-credit 
assistance for women, literacy programs and 
legislative reform. 
34. USG programs could provide NGOs with technical 
assistance on grant proposal drafting and on regional 
research and information gathering.  Regional 
cooperation in combating trafficking in women and 
children and providing assistance to victims can be 
facilitated through developing a regional NGO network 
through the Internet, meetings, and workshops.  NGOs 
and law enforcement authorities should be encouraged 
to cooperate to prevent trafficking, to assist 
victims, and to facilitate the apprehension of 
traffickers.  NGOs often have inside information and 
experience that could facilitate the arrest of 
traffickers by local police. 
 
 
PROTECTION 
---------- 
 
 
35. The third part of the Bureau's strategy for West 
Africa includes working with host governments and NGOs 
to establish domestic and international protection and 
assistance.  Initiatives such as rescue and 
reintegration projects should be geared toward 
providing trafficking victims with immediate, short- 
term shelter and health care as well as assisting 
governments and local NGOs to build the capacity for 
longer-term shelter and education programs with an aim 
of successfully reintegrating victims into society. 
Working through the International Organization for 
Migration (IOM), we hope to help build a regional 
structure for the efficient repatriation of victims to 
their country of origin from wherever they are 
intercepted.  This would require bilateral 
repatriation agreements and the creation of a regional 
communications network for immigration and police 
authorities to coordinate the transfer of and care for 
trafficking victims. 
 
 
DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITY 
------------------- 
 
 
36. USG anti-TIP policy, particularly our efforts to 
implement the 2000 Protection of Trafficking Victims 
Acts, needs to be conveyed to governments in the sub- 
region in a clear and consistent fashion. The Regional 
Affairs Office of the AF Bureau will work with posts 
to develop regional and country-specific talking 
points for use in conveying USG anti-TIP goals to host 
governments and regional organizations (e.g. ECOWAS). 
AF/RA will also ensure that the TIP issue is raised 
during bilateral talks with AF governments and the 
governments of relevant European destination 
countries, as appropriate.  Diplomatic efforts will be 
made to encourage governments to ratify the 
Transnational Organized Crime Convention (Palermo 
Convention of December 2000) Protocol on Trafficking 
in Persons.  Working with posts and other bureaus, 
AF/RA will monitor the effectiveness of anti-TIP law 
enforcement efforts in various countries, maintaining 
statistics on arrests and prosecutions of traffickers. 
 
 
----------------- 
Tactical Approach 
----------------- 
 
 
37. In order to best advance the above "Three Ps," 
this strategy will use the following means: 
 
 
--Improved intra-USG donor coordination (led by G/TIP 
and including USAID, DRL, INL, DOL) both at the 
Washington and field levels; 
 
 
--Greater Coordination with International Donors 
(World Bank, the UK's Department for International 
Development, the EU and Norway's NORAD); 
 
 
--Engagement with/funding of regional organizations 
(ECOWAS) and International Organizations (ILO-IPEC, 
IOM, the UN Center for International Crime Programs-- 
UNCICP, UNICEF); balanced with 
 
 
--Direct funding for host government and/or local NGOs 
when feasible and deemed most effective. 
 
 
Regional Trafficking Resource Database 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
38. In order to better understand and manage a 
coordinated USG anti-trafficking strategy, it is 
important to have a compendium of up-to-date and 
comprehensive research materials, including data on 
organizations that are addressing the trafficking 
problem and identification of programs that have or 
will be directed against TIP in the region.  A 
regional trafficking resource database, compiled by 
AF/RA and accessible to U.S. Missions and NGOs in the 
region, would include recent reports, surveys, project 
documents, e-mail addresses of key organizations and 
individuals and information on trafficking 
disseminated by the Department's Public Diplomacy 
offices.  The information contained in the regional 
trafficking database would be compiled by using 
reputable government and non-government sources. 
 
 
39. The regional trafficking resource database would 
also hold information on victim assistance needs, 
government responses and programs ranging from law 
enforcement and social protection to indirect programs 
(largely run by USAID) that address the fundamental 
causes of child trafficking and child labor (such as 
lack of education and employment), as well as efforts 
to eliminate the practice of trafficking.  In 
addition, governments and NGOs would benefit by 
sharing information and best practices within the 
region to enhance their approach to the problem and 
facilitate regional efforts.  Ideally, this resource 
database would foster the creation of regional and 
local networks - formal and informal - among NGOs and 
donor governments in the region. 
 
 
USG Resources 
------------- 
 
 
40. The AF Bureau will work with posts and other 
Washington agencies (AID and DOL) to develop anti- 
trafficking programs to be funded by ESF, INL and PRM 
funds.  ESF allocations for Africa, in particular, 
will be reviewed systematically for the inclusion of 
anti-TIP programs on a regional and country-specific 
basis.  Posts will coordinate more closely with other 
donors (e.g. DFID, NORAD, and the World Bank) and 
international implementing partners (e.g. UNICEF, ILO- 
IPEC, IOM) to enhance shared funding of trafficking 
programs in the region.  Existing programs in the 
region for primary education, micro-credit, gender 
equality, sustainable agriculture, labor and economic 
development will be reviewed and, where appropriate, 
will adopt anti-trafficking in persons goals. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Short-term Objectives (June 2002-December 2002) 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
Diplomacy 
--------- 
 
 
--Raise the trafficking issue with host governments 
within the context of the broad range of bilateral 
relations (just as we have done with HIV/AIDS) to 
ensure that the host governments are aware, on-board 
and committed. 
 
 
--Strengthen the anti-trafficking focus of existing 
educational programs like the Education Democracy and 
Development Initiative (EDDI). 
 
 
--Encourage host governments to ratify the UN 2000 
Palermo Protocol on Trafficking in Persons and the 
December 2001 ECOWAS Resolution and Plan of Action and 
to develop and enact national legislation to prosecute 
traffickers and criminalize both trafficking and 
forced child labor. 
 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
 
 
--Conduct targeted awareness campaign in identified 
source communities using posters, skits and other 
communications techniques best suited to a largely 
illiterate audience. 
--Create a resource database of anti-trafficking 
offices, organizations and reports, to be available 
via Internet, for U.S. missions and local host country 
counterparts. 
 
 
--Encourage NGOs and U.S. agencies that provide 
technical assistance in general to support efforts to 
target TIP source communities, especially in the area 
of secondary education. 
 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
 
 
--Encourage host governments to ratify the UN Protocol 
and the ECOWAS resolution, and to draft and enact 
national legislation criminalizing TIP. 
 
 
--Provide technical assistance to boost investigative 
and prosecutorial capacity of host government law 
enforcement agencies fighting TIP. 
 
 
Protection 
---------- 
 
 
--Design and begin implementation of technical 
assistance to host governments to create an effective 
framework for receiving/protecting victims of 
trafficking and reintegrating them into society. 
 
 
--Begin providing seed money (non-recurring costs) for 
the start-up of NGO shelters in source countries. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Long-Term Objectives (January 2003 - June 2004) 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
 
 
--Help promote an accountability system to monitor 
various cash crops suspected of involving child labor, 
complementing programs such as the Sustainable Tree- 
Crop Program in Cote d'Ivoire. 
 
 
--Assist host governments' implementation of 
preexisting goals of universal, compulsory primary 
education at little or no cost to students and their 
families. 
 
 
--Integrate anti-TIP objectives into existing USG 
assistance programs for primary education, micro- 
credit, gender equality, sustainable agriculture, 
labor and economic development. 
 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
 
 
--Contingent on the enactment of TIP laws, encourage 
the designation of dedicated and accountable anti-TIP 
law enforcement entities that cooperate within the 
region and work locally with community-based 
watch/prevention groups. 
 
 
--Encourage expanded prosecution of corrupt officials 
involved in TIP. 
 
 
--Encourage host governments' cooperation with US law 
enforcement TIP investigations, such as U.S. Customs 
Service investigations of forced child labor used in 
the production of items destined to become U.S. 
imports. 
 
 
Protection 
---------- 
 
 
--Facilitate reintegration of trafficking victims into 
their home settings through specialized school 
programs and vocational training. 
 
 
--Strengthen or create a regional network among 
government agencies in the region  for repatriation of 
trafficking victims, probably through IOM. 
 
 
(end) 
 
 
ANDREWS