CHILD PROTECTION COMPACT PARTNERSHIP
BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND
THE REPUBLIC OF COTE D’IVOIRE
The GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and THE REPUBLIC OF COTE D’IVOIRE (hereinafter referred to as “the Participants”),
RECOGNIZING the long-standing relationship between the Participants,
CONSIDERING their common commitment to the respect of human rights, in particular of children, by providing them with the protection necessary for their full physical, psychological and social development,
CONCERNED by the harmful consequences of human trafficking on the physical, psychological and social development of the children who are victims,
DESIRING to strengthen the existing cooperation between the Participants on issues related to child trafficking,
ACKNOWLEDGING the respective leadership roles and responsibilities in the fight against human trafficking of the United States Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office); the National Committee for the Monitoring of Actions to Combat Trafficking, Exploitation, and Child Labor (CNS); the Interministerial Committee for the Fight Against Trafficking, Exploitation and Child Labor (CIM); and the National Committee for the Fight Against Human Trafficking (CNLTP),
EXPRESSING the need for a well-coordinated response to improve efforts to prevent and eradicate child trafficking,
RECOGNIZING the important contribution of national and international civil society organizations in the protection of children, and
DESIRING to cooperate under this Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership to work collaboratively over the next five years to strengthen efforts in Cote d’Ivoire to combat child trafficking,
Have reached the following understandings:
I. Purpose
The purpose of this CPC Partnership is to advance and strengthen the efforts of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and civil society organizations in Cote d’Ivoire to combat child trafficking in a victim-centered, coordinated, sustainable, and multi-sectoral approach to support an effective system of justice, prevention, and protection. This includes the implementation of a victim-centered prevention strategy that addresses targeted risk factors, promotes high-quality comprehensive victim protection, and investigates, prosecutes, and convicts perpetrators of child trafficking.
II. Goal and Objectives
The Participants endeavor to support the following goal and objectives over the duration of this CPC Partnership:
Goal: The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire combats forced child labor and child sex trafficking in a coordinated and proactive manner.
Objective 1 (Prevention): Child trafficking prevention efforts are coordinated and targeted throughout the country.
Objective 2 (Protection): The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire directly supports child trafficking victims by providing care that is available and readily accessible using a trauma-informed, victim-centered approach and supports local civil society working on protection throughout the country.
Objective 3 (Prosecution): Justice sector actors, including law enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary, utilize existing trafficking-specific legal frameworks to identify child trafficking victims, investigate cases, and prosecute and convict perpetrators of child trafficking in a child-friendly, victim-centered, and trauma-informed manner.
Objective 4 (Partnership): The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire addresses child trafficking in a coordinated manner across all relevant ministries as well as with civil society, local communities, and foreign counterparts.
III. Operational Definitions of Concepts
The following definitions are expected to be used for the purposes of this CPC Partnership:
“Trafficking in persons,” “human trafficking,” and “modern slavery” are umbrella terms – often used interchangeably – to refer to a crime whereby traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor or engage in commercial sex. When a person younger than 18 is used to perform a commercial sex act, it is a crime regardless of whether there is any force, fraud, or coercion involved;
“Forced child labor” describes forced labor schemes in which traffickers compel children to work. Forms of slavery or slavery-like practices – including the sale of children and debt bondage and serfdom of children – should also be considered forms of forced child labor. Some indicators of forced labor of a child include situations in which the child generally appears to be in the custody of a non-family member and the child’s work financially benefits someone outside the child’s family; or the denial of food, rest, or schooling to a child who is working;
“Child sex trafficking” is a form of human trafficking that occurs when a trafficker recruits, harbors, transports, provides, advertises, solicits, patronizes, obtains, or maintains a child for the purpose of performing a commercial sex act. Force, fraud, or coercion are not required in cases of child sex trafficking. The use of a live webcam or other device to broadcast over the Internet children performing commercial sex acts or other explicit sexual acts should also be considered a form of child sex trafficking;
“Child trafficking” encompasses forced child labor and child sex trafficking;
“Child” is a person under the age of 18;
“Victim-centered approach” is placing the crime victim’s priorities, needs, and interests at the center of the work with the victim; providing nonjudgmental assistance, with an emphasis on self-determination, and assisting victims in making informed choices; ensuring that restoring victims’ feelings of safety and security is a priority and safeguarding against policies and practices that may inadvertently re-traumatize victims. A victim-centered approach should also incorporate a trauma-informed, survivor-informed, and culturally competent approach.
“Comprehensive services” are an array of services that should be made available to a trafficking victim, including emergency and medium-term assistance. At a minimum, these services include: shelter; case management and follow-up; safety planning; crisis intervention; victim advocacy; legal assistance; physical and mental health treatment, including individual and group counseling; support in family reunification and community reintegration; medical care; dental care; substance abuse treatment; assistance with educational and/or vocational needs; life skills training; transportation; and other necessary services.
“Trauma-informed approach” recognizes signs of trauma in individuals and the professionals who help them and responds by integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, practices, and settings. This approach includes an understanding of the vulnerabilities and experiences of trauma survivors, including the prevalence and the physical, social, and emotional impact of trauma. A trauma-informed approaches place a priority on restoring the survivor’s feelings of safety, choice, and control. Programs, services, agencies, and communities can be trauma-informed.
“Survivor-informed approach” is a program, policy, intervention, or product that is designed, implemented, and evaluated with intentional leadership, expertise, and input from a diverse community of survivors to ensure that the program, policy, intervention, or product accurately represents their needs, interests, and perceptions.
IV. Description of Partnership
The TIP Office is responsible for leading the Government of the United States of America’s global engagement to combat human trafficking, including producing the U.S. Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) and developing and managing assistance programs. The TIP Office appreciates the efforts of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire to meet the minimum standards for addressing human trafficking. These efforts are described in the 2022 TIP Report in which Cote d’Ivoire maintained a Tier 2 ranking.
This CPC Partnership is a jointly developed and implemented five-year plan intended to strengthen the capacity of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, as well as civil society organizations and public international organizations, to address child trafficking, thereby strengthening existing efforts by the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire to meet the needs of child victims and at-risk children and eradicate these crimes.
V. Monitoring of the Implementation of the CPC Partnership
A. Beginning one year from the effective date of this CPC Partnership, the Participants intend to meet with civil society implementing partner(s) annually to highlight CPC accomplishments, note challenges in implementation, and discuss and validate planned activities for the coming year.
B. The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, through the CNS, in collaboration with the CIM and the CNLTP, and in coordination with civil society implementing partner(s), is expected to provide an annual report, including a brief narrative describing progress toward meeting this CPC Partnership’s objectives and activities, recommendations for further assistance, sustainability, areas for improvement, and data on the performance indicators for measuring progress listed in Annex A. The reporting format is expected to be jointly developed by the Participants and the civil society implementing partner(s). This report is expected to be presented at the annual meetings noted in Section V.A.
C. The Government of the United States of America, through the TIP Office, intends to monitor the progress of civil society implementing partner(s) toward meeting this CPC Partnership’s objectives and completing its activities.
D. The Participants, upon signing this CPC Partnership, are expected to set up a monitoring and assessment committee which will be responsible to follow up on its implementation. The said committee will be made up of representatives of the two Participants and representatives of the civil society implementing partner(s).
VI. Performance Indicators for Measuring Progress
The Participants understand that the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire’s progress toward fulfilling this CPC Partnership’s purpose is expected to be measured through the mutually determined list of illustrative indicators included in the attached implementation plan (Annex A).
The Participants understand that the indicators are at two levels: On the one hand, the indicators which make it possible to determine the level of achievement of the activities outlined in Annex A, and on the other hand, the monitoring and evaluation indicators which aim to measure the progress made across programmatic activities. This second category of indicators is expected to be put in place by the monitoring and assessment committee provided for in Section V.D.
VII. Commitments
A. The Government of the United States of America, through the TIP Office and subject to the availability of funds, intends to provide up to $10 million in U.S. foreign assistance to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and/or international organizations that are expected to collaborate and cooperate with relevant Ivorian ministries to support implementation of activities that will support the goal and objectives in Section II and the attached implementation plan (Annex A). The TIP Office is expected to select civil society implementing partner(s) through a competitive solicitation process after the signing of this CPC Partnership and to facilitate communication and coordination between the civil society implementing partner(s) and participating Ivorian ministries.
B. The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, through the CNS and in collaboration with the CIM and CNLTP, intends to bring its expertise in the execution of the joint implementation plan of this CPC Partnership; coordinate, follow, and evaluate the actions through field visits, periodic meetings and activity implementation reports; make its personnel available to participate in CPC activities; promote collaboration and facilitate access between government offices for coordination and meeting purposes; share information with the TIP Office; collaborate with civil society, including civil society implementing partner(s), to support the goal and objectives described in Section II of this CPC Partnership; and sustain the systemic improvements made through these joint efforts after this CPC Partnership ends.
VII. Communications
Communications specified under this CPC Partnership are expected to be in writing and submitted to the focal point designated by each Participant as indicated below. Notices of a change in focal point are expected to be provided in writing to the other focal points within 30 days of such change. The focal points are expected to facilitate intra- and interagency communication regarding CPC Partnership activities and monitor progress toward meeting the objectives and completing activities of this CPC Partnership.
Focal Points for the Government of the United States of America
Department of State:
Office: Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Email: JTIPGrants@state.gov
Embassy of the United States of America in Cote d’Ivoire:
Office: Embassy of the United States of America in Cote d’Ivoire
Email: abidjan_polecon_all@state.gov
Focal Points for the Republic of Cote d’lvoire
National Committee for the Supervision of Actions to Combat Trafficking, Exploitation and Child Labor (CNS)
Office Phone: +225 2722480303
Email: cns@1eredame.ci
Ministry of Solidarity and the Fight against Poverty/CNLTP
Office: 1st Floor Tour B Abidjan Plateau
Email: mslp@solidarite.gouv.ci
Ministry of Employment and Social Protection/CIM
Office Phone: +225 27 22 52 33 83
Ministry of Women, Family, and Children/CIM
Office: 8ème étage Tour B Abidjan Plateau
Office Phone: +225 27 20 21 77 02/27 20 32 42 33
Office Fax : +225 27 20 21 44 61
Email : www.famille.gouv.ci
IX. Modification
This CPC Partnership may be extended or otherwise modified in writing with the mutual decision of the Participants. These modifications can occur by simple amendment in writing at the request of either Participant with a notice of at least three months.
X. Confidentiality
The Participants intend to maintain the confidentiality of non-public information received within the framework of this CPC Partnership. Unless jointly determined, or otherwise required by applicable law, a Participant should not disclose such non-public information to any third party. In the event of discontinuation or expiration of this CPC Partnership, the Participants’ commitment to the protection of information exchanged within the framework of this CPC Partnership is intended to continue to apply unless the Participants decide otherwise in writing.
XI. Effective Date, Duration, Discontinuance, and Limitations
This CPC Partnership is expected to become effective on the date of the signing by both Participants and remain effective for five years from that date, unless extended as stated in Section IX.
This CPC Partnership does not constitute an international agreement and does not create any binding obligations between the Participants under either international or domestic law. The Participants intend to implement this CPC Partnership in accordance with their own legal systems. Activities of each Participant are subject to the availability of funds.
XII. Consultations
The Participants intend to consult on questions of interpretation or implementation of this CPC Partnership.
SIGNED at Abidjan, this 7th day of December 2022, in duplicate in the English and French languages, each text being equally valid.
Annex A: Implementation Plan
The Participants intend to support the following objectives and activities over the duration of the CPC Partnership:
PREVENTION:
Child trafficking prevention efforts are coordinated and targeted throughout the country.
Illustrative Activities:
- Conduct a study on the nature and manifestations of child trafficking in Cote d’Ivoire. Ensure close coordination and consultation with relevant government entities and local experts.
- Conduct child trafficking awareness and communication campaigns across the country by targeting at-risk communities and stakeholders in the transport sector and public border posts.
- Organize and institutionalize trainings for magistrates, police, customs officers, gendarmes, officials from water and forests, officials at the mines, Ivorian diplomats abroad, interministerial regional committees, social workers, labor inspectors, teachers, nurses, local NGOs, journalists, and media on the identification of child trafficking and procedures for working with victims, consistent with the pending National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and victim identification procedures.
- Develop and provide national actors training and awareness tools on child trafficking.
- Work with relevant government ministries to promote a campaign stressing the importance of registering births and acquiring identity documents.
- Develop and share Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)/guides on child trafficking awareness and prevention with community leaders/stakeholders.
- Provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Employment for unannounced inspections.
- Work with existing farmer cooperatives and child protection committees to establish economic empowerment/resiliency initiatives.
- Offer targeted interventions such as working with community savings and credit cooperatives, create other financial inclusion strategies, provide professional training, and find alternative livelihoods for the most vulnerable communities.
- Engage schools and communities to create and adopt action plans for preventing child trafficking.
- Strengthen the operational capacities of the national structures in charge of the fight against child trafficking in Côte d’Ivoire.
- Provide support for expanding the Child Labor Observation and Monitoring System of Cote d’Ivoire (SOSTECI) to include child trafficking victims inside and outside the cocoa sector.
- Provide technical assistance and support to the Ministry of Women, Families and Children on effective prevention strategies.
Illustrative Indicators:
- Number of prevention campaigns developed
- Number of people reached by prevention campaigns
- Number of people trained on child trafficking typologies, laws, and responses
- Number of vulnerable families supported with interventions
PROTECTION:
The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire directly supports child trafficking victims by providing care that is available and readily accessible using a trauma-informed, victim-centered approach and supports local civil society working on protection throughout the country.
Illustrative Activities:
- Develop and/or strengthen existing curricula and implement trainings on victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches for social workers and staff at social centers (accompanied by follow-up mentorship and coaching).
- Institutionalize newly established trainings for social workers and social center staff into curricula for new staff.
- Provide direct support (such as computers, motorcycles, vehicles, office supplies and equipment, etc.) to state social centers, labor inspectorates, and police services in order to strengthen their capacity to protect child trafficking victims.
- Provide direct support to civil society organizations (CSOs) that provide protection services to child trafficking victims, and which are recognized and work in collaboration with relevant technical ministries.
- Conduct advocacy with the government to establish additional social centers in targeted locations.
- Create a comprehensive database of all service providers working on child protection.
- Support reintegration efforts including but not limited to: vocational/apprenticeship training; paying of school fees; small business support.
- Conduct advocacy for the establishment of a trafficking-specific budget line in the national budget for protection.
- Support the hotline and mobile app to be more responsive to victims and increase capacity to serve and identify victims.
- Strengthen the capacities of relevant actors to implement on the NRM and establish Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for addressing trafficking victims, especially children.
- Organize an annual review of the NRM and SOPs for assisting child trafficking victims.
- Reproduce and disseminate the map of assistance structures, reception and transit centers for victims of trafficking.
- Provide assistance and/or operational support for supporting additional state reception and transit centers for child trafficking victims.
- Provide assistance and/or operational support to private care centers for child trafficking victims.
- Provide assistance and/or operational support to accommodation centers for minors (CHPM) in Man, Odiénné, Daloa, Guiglo, Soubré, Bondoukou and Toumodi.
- Provide assistance and/or operational support to reintegration centers for minors in Tiébissou, Korhogo, and Man.
- Develop and train staff on minimum standards of care.
- Conduct assessment to potentially strengthen/improve case management systems.
- Review and strengthen (if necessary) case management systems.
- Strengthen legal assistance for child trafficking victims.
Illustrative Indicators:
- Number of National Training Institutes that have included training modules on child trafficking in their initial training curricula
- Number of social centers having benefited from operational capacity building
- Number of labor inspectorates having benefited from operational capacity building
- Number of child trafficking victims identified and referred to shelters or alternative care
- Number of child-friendly spaces created or improved
- Number of new services available for trafficking victims
- Number of new populations able to access services
- Number of new or improved government SOPs on child protection techniques adopted
PROSECUTION:
Justice sector actors, including law enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary, utilize existing trafficking-specific legal frameworks to identify child trafficking victims, investigate cases, and prosecute and convict perpetrators of child trafficking in a child-friendly, victim-centered and trauma-informed manner.
Illustrative Activities:
- Support a consultant/mentor for Ministry of Justice and/or police units.
- Develop and/or strengthen existing comprehensive (basic and advanced) trainings for justice sector actors on the anti-trafficking law and how to utilize it during investigations, prosecutions and convictions.
- Implement and institutionalize newly established or strengthened trainings into curricula for new justice sector staff.
- Develop SOPs and associated implementation plans case management, consistent with the NRM and victim identification SOPs.
- Establish child-friendly spaces in the Sub-Directorate’s office and/or other relevant locations.
- Create child-friendly space guidelines that are adopted and used to train relevant staff.
- Provide assistance and/or operational support to establish additional units at the Sub-Directorate’s office that focus on child trafficking victims outside Abidjan.
- Provide the public entities in charge of the fight against child trafficking in Côte d’Ivoire (SDLTEDJ, CNS, CIM, CNLTP, UCT, Brigade Mondaine) with motorcycles, vehicles, equipment, and office supplies.
- Review data collection systems used by law enforcement entities to ensure it is comprehensive and shareable to relevant stakeholders.
- Train law enforcement entities on trauma-informed and child friendly techniques for gathering evidence and testimony from survivors of child trafficking.
- Provide support for the implementation of police operations to combat child trafficking.
- Write and distribute an investigation, prosecution and judgment manual for stakeholders in the criminal justice system.
- Adopt victim-centered and trauma-informed protocols for interviewing witnesses and victims.
- Provide support for the management of legal proceedings in cases of child trafficking.
- Provide support for the investigation of cases of child trafficking.
- Organize a workshop on the appropriation of new instruments of repression on the trafficking and exploitation of children.
- Develop and institutionalize child-friendly procedures for accompaniment of child trafficking victims and witnesses before the courts.
Illustrative Indicators:
- Percent increase of investigations of child trafficking cases
- Percent increase of prosecutions of child trafficking cases
- Percent increase of convictions of child traffickers
- Number new court protections developed for victims
- Number of new or improved SOPs institutionalized
- Number of new or improved coordination and communication processes across criminal justice actors
- Number of police operations carried out
PARTNERSHIP:
The Government of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire addresses child trafficking in a coordinated manner across all relevant ministries as well as civil society, local communities, and foreign counterparts.
Illustrative Activities:
- Establish a CSO coordination committee and draft a sustainability plan for its continued operation.
- Facilitate sustainability action planning for maintaining CPC efforts beyond the end of the agreement.
- Train relevant entities on the NRM.
- Organize meetings between the CNLTP, the CIM and the CNS for an integrated coordination of the fight against trafficking in persons, especially children.
- Produce with all the actors involved an annual national report on human trafficking, in particular on the fight against child trafficking.
- Organize an international symposium to share experiences and seek complementarity.
- Strengthen the capacities of actors from technical ministries, local authorities, civil society, and the private sector aimed at developing the expertise necessary to lead the fight against human trafficking, in particular the fight against child trafficking, in their respective areas of intervention.
- Provide the National Committees (CNS, CIM, CNLTP) with support for the implementation of an action plan to combat human trafficking (including the pending 2021-2025 anti-trafficking national action plan), in particular the fight against child trafficking.
- Support the reactivation of intergovernmental MOUs on trafficking with neighboring countries in the region.
- Provide support for the implementation of nationwide comprehensive data collection system on child trafficking.
Illustrative Indicators:
- Number of meetings held by the CSO coordination committee.
- Adoption of the sustainability plan for CPC Partnership actions
- Number of actions taken by Government to prioritize human trafficking
- Number of new or improved data sharing and collection methods adopted