Counter-Trafficking
Projects (Ongoing)
In 2003 IOM launched
a pilot project to facilitate the economic rehabilitation
of victims of human trafficking. Financed by the US State
Department’s Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration,
the project was designed to complement the efforts of the
government and the civil society and to fill in the existing
gaps in the process of rehabilitation.
The first idea, which formed the basis for the Economic Rehabilitation
of Trafficked Victims in India (ERTV) project was conceptualized
by IOM on noticing a newspaper article on the rescue of trafficked
victims juxtaposed with another article on Gujarat Co-operative
Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) - AMUL (a Dairy Co-operative
in India) starting its own outlets involved in production
and marketing of pizzas.
IOM worked out a mechanism through which GCMMF agreed to extend
franchisee options (to set up 50 dedicated AMUL pizza parlours
across the country) to individuals rescued from trafficking
and also provide the required technical and logistics support,
marketing training and market promotion support to the beneficiaries
of the project. To begin with, IOM partnered with Prajwala,
a Hyderabad based NGO to identify beneficiaries for the project.
Prajwala also assumed the role of lobbying with the Department
of Women Development and Child Welfare, Government of Andhra
Pradesh, which finally sanctioned two sites (at no cost and
on a nominal cost basis respectively) for setting up the AMUL
parlours. IOM extended the financial support and also facilitated
the entire process essentially by channelizing the efforts
of all the stakeholders involved. The assimilation of the
efforts put in by all these agencies finally led to the setting
up of two AMUL parlours, which are fast-serve convenience
cafes offering quality AMUL products involving eight participants
in Hyderabad.
The successful implementation of the ERTV initiative led to
the conceptualization of the second project – Economic
Rehabilitation of Survivors of Trafficking (ERST) in 2005.
ERST was an extension of the earlier project offering comprehensive
and holistic solutions based on multi-stakeholder and multi-pronged
approach in order to contribute to the successful social reintegration
and sustainable economic rehabilitation of the rescued victims
of trafficking.
Trafficking is a multi-dimensional problem that encompasses
a whole range of economic, social and cultural issues. A well
co-ordinated multi-pronged strategy and a multi-sectoral response
needs to be employed to ensure the overall development and
empowerment of the individuals rescued from trafficking. IOM
envisaged and put forth a system which involved multiple stakeholders
vis-à-vis local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs),
the Corporate Houses, Training Institutions, Government Bodies,
the Participants and IOM, wherein each of these partners make
positive contributions in achieving the overall objective
of the project. The idea was to capitalize on the strengths
of each of these stakeholders and make a collective effort
to provide livelihood alternatives to the survivors. The partnerships
thus forged are sustainable only if a Win-Win approach is
adopted.
The multi-pronged approach involves ensuring psycho-social
support, functional literacy skills, entrepreneurship development
and business specific orientation, collaborations / franchise
options, mobilizing resources and exploring employment opportunities,
starting group enterprises, establishing backward and forward
linkages, extending financial and marketing support, ensuring
internal control and information systems and re-integration
services.
During the course
of execution, the following different models of economic activities
have emerged:
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- Individual enterprises belonging to the genre
of traditional enterprises and the primary sector
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- Individual enterprises which are managed by survivors
and which offer the scope for employing other survivors
of trafficking
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- Corporate franchisees, in association with the corporate
houses
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- Group Enterprises/corporate like enterprises (which
have been set up in places where there is no adequate
corporate presence and penetration), being operated
and managed like corporate enterprises.
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- Training cum Production centres, a suitable option
to provide employment to a large number of participants
at a single place, with scope to ensure employment
opportunities to some of the less enterprising participants
also
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IOM’s approach has
been successful in capitalizing the strengths of the various
stakeholders and in synergizing all their efforts for the
common purpose of ensuring financial independence, a life
of dignity, an identity that they could be proud of and an
ability to live their life on their own accord to the survivors
of trafficking.
IOM’s CT interventions have been continuously striving
to integrate the principles of participation, accountability,
transparency, decentralized decision–making, professionalism
and internal control systems in the course of all its endeavours.
Since 2003 IOM has reached out to 516 (ERTV – 304 and
ERST – 212 respectively) survivors of trafficking in
the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa,
Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal and Orissa. It has built partnerships
with 9 training institutes, 15 companies and 13 local NGOs,
and has won the support of local governments and law enforcement
agencies.
IOM has moved beyond the corporate social responsibility policies
of the corporate houses and has forged mutually beneficial
partnerships with these business houses. IOM’s CT interventions
have corporate houses being involved in a number of ways -
extending franchise options, employment options, marketing
purposes, backward and forward linkages, promotional purposes,
for infrastructure, space and machinery, offering training
opportunities and technical expertise and being customers,
demanding the services and goods of these initiatives. In
this regard Indian Tobacco Company (ITC), one of the foremost
companies in the country with an annual turnover of over USD
3 billion has gone a step ahead. It has pitched in by co-funding
the setting up of two food kiosks, thus making it the first
anti-trafficking initiative in the country to be funded by
a private sector player.
The state governments in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra
and Orissa have acclaimed the projects, supported the initiatives
being implemented in their respective sates and are currently
involved in a dialogue with IOM to design and plan PROGRAMMES
for state wide implementation.
The project has also raised public awareness of human trafficking
and developed institutions that will continue to provide survivors
with sustainable livelihoods.
Encouraged by the success of the ERST project, the US State
Department’s Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration
has provided fresh funding to IOM for implementing a project
focusing on Prevention and provision of Assistance to Survivors
of Trafficking (PAST). Beginning January 2007, the PAST project
would aim to empower 300 beneficiaries (150 survivors of trafficking
and 150 persons vulnerable to trafficking) through provision
of alternative economic opportunities on the lines of IOM’s
earlier interventions.
Prajwala enterprises
The
idea of setting up a labour intensive, production
oriented book-binding unit was proposed on the basis
that involving participants in a production activity
would impart life long skills to them – a value
addition in real terms. Also the training, backward
and forward linkages support envisaged from Boys Town
- St.Mark’s Family Helper Project also encouraged
IOM and Prajwala to set up this unit in a 5000 square
foot rented premises in the old city of Hyderabad.
In addition, the universal demand for book-binding
would ensure the participants a livelihood even if
they moved out of Hyderabad. Since it is a highly
capital intensive initiative, IOM supported the machinery
costs through a grant and the working capital was
provided as micro credit.
Though the unit started with 20 participants, despite
some drop –outs (due to opting for other opportunities
or shift in base post-marriage), the number of participants
has increased to 30 in response to the growing market
demand.
On an average, the participants are earning between
Rs.2,500/- to Rs.4,000/-. Initially, the training
was organized to make the girls thorough in their
work. Close supervision by production experts ensured
that the participants learnt rapidly on the job and
the wastage was minimized – this also ensured
that every book made at the unit even during the training
period was saleable. Over a period of time, the work
on the machines was being handled by the more experienced
and adept girls who would team up with the new learners
and train them. Job rotation is integrated into the
system and this ensures that the girls are trained
in all stages and skills so that they can pitch in
and adapt when required, the work need not suffer
due to the absence of any individual. The participants
are capable of setting up their own independent units
if they want to and also have a variety of skills
which would help them get jobs with other book-binding
units or printing presses should they plan to move
out due to any reason.
The business is highly seasonal, and in order to offset
this, and add value, printing, screen-printing and
lamination have also been introduced. The organization
is currently helping the participants understand the
various dimensions of the enterprise – production,
maintenance of plant and machinery and marketing.
A protocol, which would define the rules and regulations
to modulate the working environment, is being drafted.
There are several staff members who support the participants
in carrying out the activities at the enterprise.
The Prajwala Training cum centre Production is driven
by the belief that not all survivors can become entrepreneurs.
Though some may exhibit entrepreneurial traits, they
need to be recognized and strengthened. After their
traumatic experiences, most are unwilling to take
risks and want to be assured a secure livelihood –
so different options have to be provided. This understanding
motivated Prajwala to create an enterprise, take on
the onus of managing it and providing a fixed salary
to the participants working there.
From staying at Prajwala’s shelter home, most
of the participants have moved on to live on their
own (either with their families or with other participants)
– in houses allotted to them by the government
or in rented places. Some of them have got married
and also have children. They are an integral part
of the communities where they reside, they are identified
as skilled workers employed at a printing and book-binding
unit, their salaries are credited to their personal
savings accounts, they are currently learning to use
their ATM cards, some of them have bought mobile phones,
they are into the practice of saving every month,
some of them send money back home, in their leisure
time, they attend functional literacy classes, they
commute by public transport, they buy their provisions,
occasionally they go out for shopping or for watching
a movie – they are finally living life –
ON THEIR OWN…
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