The Asia Foundation has launched a five-year, $6.8 million project to prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute traffickers in six districts in Nepal. Its own contributions will bring the total amount to approximately $7.4 million.
The award, given by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), goes into effect immediately.
Trafficking in persons is serious and widespread in Nepal, a country facing a deepening political crisis. Ongoing internal conflict and economic instability have shaped high rates of cross-border, international, and internal trafficking of women, men, and children, the foundation said in a statement. The enactment of the Human Trafficking and Transportation Control Act (TIP Act) in 2007 has yet to improve prosecutions and convictions significantly.
The US-based Asia Foundation and its 13 experienced partner organisations on the ground in Nepal will implement a five-year programme—drawing from each group’s complementary expertise in counter trafficking to close critical gaps between legal and policy frameworks and their implementation. The programme is designed to build coordination among partners, projects, and initiatives across a diverse group of government and civil society stakeholders to address the enforcement of anti-trafficking laws.
“This commitment to collaboration in the fight against trafficking in persons is a trademark characteristic of our ongoing initiatives,” said Dr George Varughese, Country Representative in Nepal of The Asia Foundation. “Given our extensive network and deep local presence on the ground, we are well positioned to lead this critical need for effective, measurable programmes that protect victims in Nepal and bring traffickers to justice. More than ever, a crippled government and economy severely limits law enforcement efforts and tracking systems in combating trafficking.”
The latest US government studies indicate that as many as 800,000 people are trafficked internationally each year and that millions more are trafficked within their own countries, the statement said. Non-governmental organisations estimate that as many as 15,000 girls are trafficked annually in Nepal alone.
A new dimension has developed during the last decade. Foreign labour migration is now a major area for exploitation. Faced with a politically and economically fragile environment, young women and men in Nepal willingly travel to urban centres in Nepal or abroad to find work, and are routinely exploited or trafficked.
