Press Releases
U.S. Government Awards $672,610 to Combat Human Trafficking in Nepal
April 18, 2007
The U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons is awarding a total of $672,610 in assistance to three organizations in Nepal working to combat human trafficking. The U.S. Government is committed to the fight against trafficking in persons, which includes modern-day slavery involving victims who are forced, defrauded, or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation.
The following organizations will receive grants to support their work:
Save the Children and Maiti Nepal: A one-year $197,750 grant to strengthen and expand community-based anti-trafficking strategies through awareness and safe migration initiatives. Save the Children and Maiti Nepal will work to bolster district anti-trafficking committees formed by the Ministry of Women, Children, and Social Welfare and will provide training to ward and district level law enforcement officials.
Daywalka Foundation: $465,360 in two grants: the first project is to improve the investigation, management and prosecution of trafficking cases. The Foundation will build capacity in the collection of data on trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and criminal judgments. The project will provide training to the police, the attorney general’s office, judicial offices, and other branches of the government, as well as offer assistance on building trafficking cases. The second project by the Daywalka Foundation is for training Women’s Cell officers on the investigation and proper handling of trafficking cases. It will provide technical assistance in the form of digital and video cameras, fax machines, cell phones, and a van. The program also includes the construction of a Women and Children Service Center at the Central Level Police District Headquarters in Kathmandu.
The Nepal Institute of Development Studies: A $9,500 grant for data collection on the nexus between trafficking and foreign employment of Nepali citizens. It will document vulnerabilities of migrant workers and trafficking victims. The resulting data will offer a better assessment of the trafficking situation in Nepal and help fill information gaps previously identified by the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Person’s Report.