2012 Annual Report

Annual Report January-December 2012 Copy Right Cambodia ACTs This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union (EU) and Terre des Hommes– Netherlands (TdH-NL). The contents of this document are the sole responsibil- ity of Cambodia ACTs and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the EU and TdH-NL. Contents Contents 1 A Message from our Chairman 2 A Message from our Secretary General 3 Background 4 Cover Area 5 Structure of Cambodia ACTs 6 Executive Summary 7 Project 1; 8-14 Enhancing the Community to Prevent Human-Trafficking, especially of Women and Children, and to Assist the Victims of Trafficking in Accessing Justice Project 2; 15-17 Legal Support for Sexually Abused and Trafficked Children Project 3; 18 Advancing the Cause of Better Protection of the Rights of Trafficking Chil- dren in South East Asia 19-20 Project 4; Community Capacity-Building to Reduce the Damages Resulting from Child Labour Secretariat Activities 21-22 Monitoring Visit 23 Financial Report 24-25 26-28 Partners of Cambodia ACTs 1 A Message from Our Chairman The Complexity of Trafficking in Persons This year Khmer New Year was celebrated on April 14th. The media reported that hundreds of thousands of migrant workers left Phnom Penh or came through the borders to go to their hometowns to celebrate and reunite with their families. The massive movement of people strained the country's trans- port services as migrant workers laden with bags of gifts, food and clothes crammed into buses and taxis, while cars clogged the highways. Immediately after the New Year Event, thousands of migrant workers crossed the Poipet border, as migrant workers tried to get into Thailand. At least 500,000 Cambo- dians currently working in Thailand but only about 50 percent of that number is estimated to be legal mi•grants. It is believed that the migration has affected both children who accompany the family and the left behind children. This means that it would have the negative affect on the survival, well-being, and development of children. Given Cambodia‟s high levels of unemployment and levels of poverty, the lure of higher salaries in other countries and urban areas will continue to create incentives for Cambodians to migrate. Cambodia ACTs is mainly concerned with worker migration that is facilitated by traffickers, which is defined as a criminal offense. Specifically we are concerned with worker migration (as at-your-own-risk or perpetrated by others) that involves children or workers below 18 years of age. Cambodia ACTs works toward prevention through education on safe migration, appropriate citizenship documentation, legal passage, government- monitored employment using legal contracts, education on worker rights and network of support services in areas of work. When the prospective migrant worker is in-transit, it is border authorities who can intervene. Yet with porous borders, not all migrant workers pass through border control. After crossing the border, the at-risk worker now becomes the victim, but Cambodia ACTs cannot intervene since it is foreign government authorities and NGOs in the receiving country who have jurisdiction over the Cambodian migrant worker and his/her abusive employer or receiver. Only when the victim returns to Cambodia can we provide assistance. This problem necessitates a cross-country agreement, either as a bilateral issue between the governments of the origin and receiving country, or as a Cambodian NGO-to-receiving country NGO partnership. This is not yet implemented in either case, even with bilateral agreements on trafficking and migrataion. This should be taken up as an ASIA ACTs project. This highlights the complexity of trafficking in persons as a development issue. Migrant labour is an accepted trend, it is a coping mechanism for unemployment in rural areas in poverty, and especially occurs during the farming off-season. Migration is a voluntary-and-risky affair. It happens either by the worker‟s own traverse into the next country or as facilitated by traffickers who prey on vulnerable workers with the promise of higher- paying jobs, putting them at risk in exchange for pay. Oftentimes, it is difficult to segregate what is by the worker‟s own risk and what is classified as trafficking by perpetrators; the latter being the criminal offense. Even for the latter, relatives are often involved, so victims do not see it as crime—but as kin helping another kin. It only becomes a crime when abuse happens in the workplace, when the intended compensation is not met and exploitation is exposed and the victim seeks justice. Migration of labour also occurs to the urban centers within the country. This is one reason why Cambodia ACTs have taken on a “children on the move” framework. For this framework to be effective there is a need to col- laborate between NGOs that are operating both in the child‟s place of origin area and the receiving area. But with large numbers of families and their children moving, this collaboration is not yet fully developed. In the future, it may be necessary to more strongly bring trafficking to the forefront as an urban-poor community issue since many rural poor families who migrate eventually end up as urban-poor families. By bridging the origin and receiving components we can then finally provide comprehensive support services to children in migrant labour families. The Executive Committee is very proud of what Cambodia ACTs has been able to accomplish over this past year. We look forward to another successful year in working towards our mission to fight against child trafficking. Your sincerely, Mr. Ung Pola Chairman of Cambodia ACTs 2 A Message from Our Secretary General Getting Re-Started to Get Ahead “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.” Mark Twain I feel greatly honored to be selected to assume the post of National Coordinator of Cambodia ACTS. My predecessor, Song Saran, has driven initiatives that have changed our organisation for the better—making it relevant to the social changes in our country, taking its activities into new areas, and building a great network. I am a different person. Therefore, my work style will be different, but the goal will be the same—to deliver results that help our NGO network members, our donors and our partners to combat child trafficking successfully. I had the privilege of serving in ECPAT, an NGO network against child exploitation, for several years and I understand the challenges of running a network. Efficiency, effective strategies and relevance are the foremost considerations. and I know what the priorities are. With some staff having moved out to other ventures, building up a good work team is first, of course. Then there is the never-ending effort to ensure that our services will be sustained. I have also experienced firsthand the support that NGO members of Cambodia ACTS can deliver, along with our donors and support stakeholders from government and other agencies. Cambodia ACTS‟s ability to fulfill its mission „to represent, lead and serve‟ depends on your trust and confidence. My challenge will be to deliver these without compromising Cambodia ACTS‟s effectiveness and ability to exe- cute and deliver what poor children—especially those at-risk and victim of trafficking need. Good teamwork and able staff will help Cambodia ACTS to become an even more effective association. No-one wants it to be an inward looking organization more concerned about running itself than delivering results. Let‟s not forget that Cambodia ACTS has delivered some great results in recent years. I am very conscious of the expectations you have of me and my colleagues to continue to do so. My first report covers most of the accomplishments of the last year. A crucial achievement was the mapping assessment workshops which broadened our partnership to 335 agencies, 46 NGOs and our geographic areas to include Kampot, Sihanoukville, Koh Kong. Another is our effective links to new mandated structures— notably the District and Commune Committee for Women and Children. The Secretariat also improved on monitoring tools: the Partner Capacity Assessment Tool (PCAT) and the compliance monitoring for the provincial working groups. Our efforts against trafficking are further bolstered with the setting up of CNCC provincial secretariats in all provinces. This bring in new staff from various ministries/departments, but also poses a challenge as there is need for re-working or a re-start up of capacity building which were already done in the ear- lier actions. Public service to the poor is very important and exciting work. Every activity we conduct opens up new possi- bilities for changing people‟s knowledge, attitudes and practices; it fulfills peoples‟ hopes for safe communities and brings people together. I‟m passionate about this work—about the good it does and the importance it has. I will be a tireless advocate for all of our members. By focusing attention on Cambodia ACTs‟ good perform- ance, we can inspire stronger partnerships that together can deliver needed services to the beneficiaries we care for, to promote good practices in combating trafficking and share success. I ask you to support me in these efforts. Thank you again for your trust and confidence. Mr. Eang Seng Eev Secretary General of Cambodia ACTs 3 Cambodia Against Child Trafficking (Cambodia ACTs) is a non-profit organization, established in July 2001 in Khao Yai, Thailand. Asia ACTs, and seven other representatives from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam met and agreed to fight the se- rious problem of child trafficking in Southeast Asia.

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