A new grant of US $500,000 from the USAID will support an anti-trafficking project managed by The Asia Foundation for a period of two years in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. This multi-sectoral and victim-centered project “seeks to reduce the vulnerability of communities in the Mekong Delta to human trafficking by increasing awareness of safe migration strategies and increasing the quality of care and support available to victims of trafficking, drawing on best practices from other countries in the region.”
The Asia Foundation will implement this project in partnership with the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences under the Ministry of Education and Training so that the government is strengthened in its capacity to counter trafficking in the area. The project intends to reach out 40,000 students from at-risk communities. They will be benefited from education and trainings organized under the project. “Trainings for teachers and school officials will focus on messages and techniques that can be replicated in other schools and communities. Outreach efforts will incorporate successful materials developed under recent pilot projects such as the Safe Migration for a Better Life handbook and guidelines on how to find a job in major urban centers.”
Besides prevention of trafficking, the project will also adopt a rehabilitation strategy which will advocate policies for ensuring the rights of the trafficked victims and bring about a minimum standard of care for them. “The Foundation will draw on its experience working with the Cambodian government to develop the recently-released Policy and Minimum Standard for the Protection of the Rights of Victims of Human Trafficking.”
Source
5 October 2009
