USAID and The Asia Foundation Expand Counter-Trafficking Program in Vietnam's Mekong Delta

USAID and The Asia Foundation Expand Counter-Trafficking Program in Vietnam's
Mekong Delta

New Project Will Reach 40,000 Students through Education and Training

HANOI, Vietnam, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, The Asia Foundation
announced a new grant of $500,000 from the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) for a two-year project to strengthen the
Government of Vietnam's ongoing anti-trafficking efforts in the Mekong Delta.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090909/DC72536LOGO )

Through an integrated, multi-sectoral, victim-centered approach, the
USAID-supported 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.

To help prevent trafficking, The Asia Foundation and its partner, the Vietnam
Institute of Educational Sciences under the Ministry of Education and
Training, will build upon and further refine an earlier school-based safe
migration program in An Giang and Can Tho provinces - major trafficking
hotspots near the Cambodia-Vietnam border - to reach 40,000 students from
at-risk communities. 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.

"The Asia Foundation-led safe migration pilot program was practical and useful
for students, and information provided through the activities has helped to
guide them to safe migration and safe employment," said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh,
director of the An Giang Provincial Education and Training Department.

To assist victims of trafficking, another program priority will focus on
improving the rehabilitation process. Given that many victims are in a
vulnerable psychological state, there is significant potential for
re-traumatization after they are rescued. The Asia Foundation will work with
the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and service
providers - including police, legal professionals, social workers, and health
care workers - to draft a policy document that defines a victim's basic rights
as well as outlines best practices for ensuring a minimum standard of care.
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. To draft a
victim assistance manual that is appropriate in the context of Vietnam, The
Asia Foundation will facilitate consultations among key stakeholders and
practitioners. Once the draft is approved by MOLISA, the Foundation will
conduct training workshops to implement the new policy.

Trafficking in persons is a high priority issue for the Foundation. In
Vietnam, the Foundation has supported a comprehensive counter-trafficking
program since 2002 to address both the underlying causes and consequences of
trafficking. Programs are implemented to empower young people to better
protect themselves from sexual and labor exploitation as they look for ways
out of poverty by providing safe migration and legal rights information as
well as with interventions to improve their economic position.

About USAID
USAID is a U.S. government agency that provides economic, development, and
humanitarian assistance around the world. Through its activities in Vietnam
since 2000, USAID has worked with the Government of Vietnam to help speed up
the country's transition to an open, market-based economy, increase prevention
and treat cases of HIV/AIDS, improve vulnerable groups' access to educational
and other social services, and ensure that environmental governance progresses
along with economic and social development. In total, USAID has contributed
over $200 million for relief and development activities in Vietnam. Read more
about USAID in Vietnam.

About The Asia Foundation
The Asia Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed
to the development of a peaceful, prosperous, just, and open Asia-Pacific
region. The Foundation supports programs in Asia that help improve governance,
law, and civil society; women's empowerment; economic reform and development;
and international relations. Drawing on more than 50 years of experience in
Asia, the Foundation collaborates with private and public partners to support
leadership and institutional development, exchanges, and policy research.

With offices throughout Asia, an office in Washington, D.C., and its
headquarters in San Francisco, the Foundation addresses these issues on both a
country and regional level. In 2008, the Foundation provided more than $87
million in program support and distributed over one million books and
educational materials valued at $41 million throughout Asia. For more
information, visit www.asiafoundation.org.

SOURCE The Asia Foundation

In Hanoi, Dang thi Hanh, Program Officer, (84-4) 3943-3263, ext. 107,
dhanh@asiafound.org; In San Francisco, Debbie Felix, +1-415-743-3318,
dfelix@asiafound.org, both of The Asia Foundation