Calls for Implementation Work on Child Trafficking in Sierra Leone & Guinea

Deadline: 30 June 2020

The African Programming and Research Initiative to End Slavery (APRIES) is seeking partners to implement impactful anti child-trafficking programs and/or policy work in Sierra Leone and Guinea, resulting in a measurable reduction in baseline reporting in target communities and an increase in the number of victims served.

These programs are to be located in the Kenema, Kailahun, and Kono areas of Sierra Leone and Boke and Mamou areas of Guinea. Successful applicants will further develop program plans in close collaboration with APRIES. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the precise start date of programs is to be determined

Purpose of Implementation

• Sierra Leone
  • The subawards will be used for programming and/or policy advocacy projects that measurably reduce the prevalence of child trafficking as well as increase the number of victims served in Kenema, Kailahun, and Kono. Priority will be given to programs that already demonstrate evidence of effectiveness and have a clear strategy to accelerate positive impact in measurably reducing child trafficking. The goal is to measurably reduce child trafficking in the target areas. APRIES encourages child trafficking survivor-centered approaches.
  • Existing data from Kenema, Kailahun, and Kono highlight the need to focus prevalence reduction efforts on the traditional Menpikin practice. Menpikin involves extended family members taking children away from their homes, frequently with their parents’ permission, with the promise of providing children with an education that would otherwise be unaffordable for parents. Although this traditional Menpikin practice is generally used to assist underprivileged children, it is reportedly serving as a means to traffic some children. Some of these children are not provided with the promised education; rather they are taken from rural to urban areas and subjected to forced labor in street trading, domestic servitude, mining, agriculture, commercial sex, and/or Okada (motorcycle) riding. APRIES efforts focus on programs and policies that acknowledge the role of poverty and lack of secondary education in rural areas as key drivers and vulnerability factors of Menpikin practices.
  • Proposed activities may include one or more of the following components:
    • Component 1: Strengthening the Prosecution of Perpetrators
      • Enable local and/or national entities to implement the existing Anti-Trafficking Act, especially in relation to Menpikin and other forms of child trafficking practices with a focus in the areas of Kenema, Kono, and Kailahun.
      • Advocate for effective policies and laws that regulate Menpikin and other forms of child trafficking practices in ways that protect survivors; empower local authorities such as paramount chiefs; and result in successful prosecutions of traffickers. Collaborations with the Ministry of Justice are highly desired.
      • Provide development opportunities (e.g., trainings) to national and local entities with enforcement authority focused on understanding and/or reducing Menpikin and other forms of child trafficking practices with a focus on the areas of Kenema, Kono, and Kailahun. Advance efforts that hold accountable actors who exploit children under the Menpikin practice.
      • Component 2: Protection of Child Trafficking Survivors
        • Provide appropriate reintegration services and/or shelter to survivors of Menpikin and other forms of child trafficking practices.
        • Provide life skills and workforce training to survivors of child trafficking in order to reduce poverty, a key driver of Menpikin and other forms of child trafficking practices.
      • Component 3: Prevention of Child Trafficking
        • Implement community sensitization efforts in close collaboration with local leadership structures with the goal of changing attitudes, practices, behavior, and knowledge linked to Menpikin and other forms of child trafficking, especially targeting parents of younger children.
        • Strengthen and develop partnerships among administrative and traditional leaders as well as law enforcement officials in order to prevent all forms of child trafficking. For example, programs that seek to encourage enrollment in secondary education for children who are vulnerable to child trafficking will be considered.
• Guinea
  • The subawards will be used for programming and/or policy projects that measurably reduce the prevalence of child trafficking as well as increase the number of victims served in Boke and Mamou, Guinea. Priority will be given to programs that already demonstrate evidence of effectiveness and have a clear strategy to accelerate positive impact in reducing child trafficking. Their goal is to measurably reduce child trafficking in the target areas. They encourage survivor-centered approaches.
  • Existing data from Boke and Mamou highlight the need to focus prevalence reduction efforts on the practice of taking orphans and children from poor families and promising them work or education elsewhere, but then forcing them to work for no or little pay instead of providing an education or before offering an education. This practice often involves extended family members, religious groups, or other trusted individuals or organizations taking children away from their homes, frequently with their parents’ permission, with the promise of providing children with an education that would otherwise be unaffordable for parents.
  • Although this traditional practice is generally used to assist underprivileged children, it is reportedly serving as a means to traffic some children who are taken from rural to urban areas and subjected to forced labor in street trading, domestic servitude, forced begging, and/or commercial sex; some children are also exploited in the mining and agricultural sectors. APRIES efforts focus on programs and policies that acknowledge the role of poverty and lack of secondary education in rural areas as key drivers and vulnerability factors for child trafficking.
  • Proposed activities may include one or more of the following components:
    • Component 1: Strengthening the Prosecution of Perpetrators
      • Enable local and/or national entities to implement the existing anti-trafficking laws and support the child protection systems in Boke and Mamou.
      • Advocate for effective policies and laws that regulate child trafficking practices in ways that protect survivors, empower local authorities such as paramount chiefs, and result in successful prosecutions of traffickers. Collaborations with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and/or Territorial Administrative units are highly desired.
      • Provide development opportunities (e.g., trainings) to national and local entities with enforcement authority focused on understanding and/or reducing child trafficking practices to hold accountable actors who exploit children.
      • Component 2: Protection of Child Trafficking Survivors
        •  Provide appropriate reintegration services and/or shelter to survivors of child trafficking practices.
        • Provide life skills and workforce training to survivors of child trafficking in order to reduce poverty, a key driver of forced begging and other forms of child trafficking.
      • Component 3: Prevention of Child Trafficking APRIES seeks to fund partners that can:
        • Implement community sensitization efforts in close collaboration with local leadership structures with the goal of changing attitudes, practices, behavior, and knowledge linked to child trafficking, especially targeting parents of younger children.
        • Strengthen and develop partnerships among administrative and traditional leaders as well as law enforcement officials in order to prevent all forms of child trafficking. For example, programs that seek to encourage enrollment in secondary school education for children who are vulnerable to child trafficking will be considered.

Funding Information

The ceiling for each award is US $450,000 for the entire program period

Eligibility Criteria

• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), civil society organizations, community-based organizations (CBOs), and public international organizations (PIOs) that have experience in anti-trafficking work and the ability to operate in Sierra Leone (particularly Kenema, Kailahun, and Kono) or Guinea (particularly Boke and Mamou) are eligible. Organizations with no prior experience in the target country; organizations with no prior experience in anti-trafficking work; government agencies; and private entities are not eligible to apply. Applicants will need to demonstrate their capability to implement successful programs in the countries in which they intend to work.
• Successful applicants will demonstrate capacity to manage US government (USG) funding in an ethical and prudent way. Selected applicants will be expected to provide important documentation prior to receiving an award that includes: incorporation or registration certificate; list of board of directors or trustees; organizational chart; written accounting policies and procedures; standard procurement manual; written policy for travel expenses; and the last three years of audited financial statements.
• In addition to the proposed program narrative, application documents might include at least one letter of support from a local government agency or other NGO/INGO/PIO/CBO/civil society partners, a logic model, a theory of change, a timeline, as well as a detailed budget and budget narrative.

For more information, visit https://apries.uga.edu/opportunities/