HumanTrafficking.org | United States of America International Organization: Academy for Educational Development

A web resource for combating human trafficking

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United States of America

Academy for Educational Development

Address

Academy for Educational Development
1825 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20009-5721

Contact Information

Tel: 1-202-884-8916
Fax: 1-202-884-8400

Website

http://www.aed.org

Email

director@humantrafficking.org

Activities

The Academy for Educational Development is an independent, nonprofit organization committed to solving critical social problems in the U.S. and throughout the world through education, social marketing, research, training, policy analysis and innovative program design and management. Major areas of focus include health, education, youth development, and the environment.

Currently, AED supports the www.humantrafficking.org website which was commissioned by the participants of the ARIAT (Asian Regional Initiative Against Trafficking) conference in March 2000 in Manila, Philippines. This website is meant to be an information resource for those in East and Southeast Asia combating human trafficking.

AED was awarded the South Asia Regional Initiative/Equity(SARI/Q) Support Program, a three-year project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project objective is to increase the capacity of indigenous nongovernmental organizations to address violence against women, trafficking, and child labor in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, and possibly related programs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The SARI/Q team will build local capacity through mutually reinforcing approaches: a small grants program to replicate best practices and strengthen networks, trainings, conferences, technical assistance, and develop an electronic clearinghouse. SARI/Q will place particular emphasis on issues of anti-trafficking in the region and eradicating violence against women to promote gender equity.

Ukraine
Funded by USAID in the Ukraine between 1998 and 2003, AED has trained hundreds of participants with the goal of preventing trafficking of women. Programs, objectives and target audiences have included the examples that follow. AED conducted six summer camps and two winter schools in Ukraine to prepare new groups of young volunteers to disseminate information on the prevention of human trafficking. The goal of these programs was to provide training in leadership, community awareness campaigns, women’s and children’s rights, combating human trafficking, and conflict resolution. After completion of each training event, the participants became trainers for their peers and community spokespersons to raise awareness of the problem of human trafficking and its causes. To date, over 320 girls and boys ranging in age from 12-16 have been trained.

AED, the International Women’s Rights Center “La Strada-Ukraine,” and Ukraine’s State Committee for Family and Youth jointly organized a USAID-sponsored regional conference in Kiev, Ukraine entitled, “Prevention of Trafficking in Persons: Economic Causes and Solutions.” Over 160 Ukrainian, Moldovan, and Belarussian representatives from government, media, and local and international organizations participated in the event, which focused primarily on the economic roots of the problem of human trafficking in Eastern Europe and the NIS and domestic alternatives to illegal labor migration. The conference reviewed various strategies to combat trafficking, such as expanding local economic opportunities, comparing regional approaches to the problem, and exploring the role of small business development and civil society in creating jobs.

AED, in cooperation with Personnel Consulting and La Strada from the Czech Republic and Caritasverban Fur Das Bistum Essen from Germany, conducted a two-week program in the Czech Republic and Germany for seventeen government officials and representatives of Ukrainian NGOs working in the field of combating human trafficking. The objective of this training program was to recommend to Ukrainian government officials and NGO leaders how to coordinate their respective efforts under the common goal of preventing illegal migration through the trafficking of Ukrainian women abroad. The participants examined the various mechanisms of interaction between state agencies and NGOs in their activities directed at preventing and combating the trafficking of women. They learned about international experience and techniques that are used to prevent and combat the trafficking of women and assist the victims. The program also introduced the trainees to international migration and residency laws, legal protection options for victims, and innovative approaches to preventing illegal migration and trafficking of women.

AED organized and coordinated the premier of a docudrama series in Kiev, Ukraine entitled “If I Don’t Return,” a program dedicated to combating the trafficking of Ukrainian women and children. The overall goals for producing the docudrama were to raise the awareness of the dangers facing the women and girls who are being trafficked abroad for sexual and illegal labor purposes and to discourage young women from becoming involved in risky behaviors that could make them victims of trafficking. The docudrama has been distributed through 25 press clubs supported by the Ukraine Market Reform Education Project and the Internews distribution network that services over 150 small regional TV stations.

AED organized a three-phase training event composed of a half-day workshop in Kiev conducted by La Strada Ukraine, a five-day program in the Netherlands conducted by the Dutch Foundation Against Trafficking in Women, and a week-long U.S. training component conducted by the International Office of Migration in Washington, DC. Fourteen participants, representatives of international and Ukrainian NGOs, and government officials working on the issues of trafficking in people, focused on the following topics:

International experience and techniques that various NGOs in the Netherlands and the United States use to prevent and combat trafficking in women and to assist trafficking victims;
International laws for migrants, residency laws, and legal protection of victims; and
Innovative approaches and best practices in preventing illegal migration and trafficking in women, such as cooperation between police and social services institutions.

Kazakhstan
In 2000, AED, together with the International Office for Migration in Almaty, Kazakhstan, held two-day regional workshops on the issue of human trafficking in the Kazakhstan cities of Aktau, Petropavlovsk, Kokshetau, and Shymkent. A total of 100 attendees represented local administrations, NGOs, and civic action groups involved in women and children affairs and that work to prevent trafficking of migrants and assist the victims of trafficking. The workshops focused on raising stakeholders’ awareness on the issues of trafficking and planning effective prevention of trafficking in Kazakhstan. Through mini lectures, discussions, case studies, and role-plays, the participants and experts shared information on the risks and dangers of illegal migration, helped each other develop their organizational capacity through networking, and drafted recommendations to the Kazakh government on effective prevention of trafficking in persons. This series served as an initial step to build a national Anti-Trafficking Project in Kazakhstan.

Bangladesh
In 2001, AED was awarded the USAID-funded Bangladesh Human Rights Advocacy Project (BHRAP), a grant program for more effective advocacy in human rights in Bangladesh. The long-range goal of BHRAP is to support organizations in Bangladesh that are working for the establishment of a national environment that respects rights and protects vulnerable groups from rights violations. Under BHRAP, AED has implemented two anti-trafficking programs:

AED conducted a week-long study tour to India in 2003 on Violence Against Women, involving 17 Bangladeshi participants, focusing on exchange about Indian and Bangladeshi legal systems and application of laws protecting women against violence.
BHRAP has given one grant to the Bangladesh National Woman Lawyer’s Association (BNWLA) for the project, “Protection and Legal Action against Women and Child Trafficking.” The BNWLA project will work on a number of fronts to protect the rights of women and children who have been trafficked. This will include: gathering information concerning trafficking incidents and cases at the district level through establishing new focal sites and continuing existing ones; assisting in prosecuting traffickers; releasing women and children who have been trafficked internally from various confinements; repatriating women and children from other countries; and rehabilitating survivors of trafficking through reintegration into the society.