5 Private-‐Public Partnership (PPP)
5.1 Why Public-‐Private Partnership?
5.1.2 Casa Alianza (Covenant House)
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
located in other Central American countries no action has been taken to repatriate them. Guatemala and Mexico are the only ones that have made an anti-trafficking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). However, very little has been done to implement the provision of the MOU.
• Prosecution: Lack of knowledge by the lawyers, magistrates, judges and other law enforcement agents working with the victims.
This report by USAID is evidence that since the TVPA in 2000 was enacted by the United States, Guatemala was one of the countries being encouraged to fight human trafficking. This report was also seen that even though specialized units against human trafficking, NGOs and INGOs were working against human trafficking there was still work to do. An inter-agency coordination was needed. In the report the INGOs and NGOs and other institutions had concerns with the governments understanding about human trafficking. The Law against Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking was drafted by mostly INGOs and NGOs specialized in all the areas of human trafficking. After the Law was accepted by the congress in 2009 a change was seen in the anti-trafficking practices and coordination.5 Three institutions were explored in this research. These are: Casa Alianza, ECPAT Guatemala and IOM. IOM worked closely with an NGO called El Refugio de la Niñez that will be mentioned as well.
5.1.2 Casa Alianza (Covenant House)
Covenant House is considered the largest, privately funded child welfare agency and homeless shelter program in the United States. In the early 1980s, having two decades of existence, the interplay of international influences resulted in a marked increased
5 Maria Eugenia Villareal, ECPAT Guatemala, Telephone interview, Interviewed by Ruth Calderon, February 18, 2014.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
the migration of children from rural áreas to the streets of capital cities in Latin America. In response to the precipitating macro risk factors in many Latin American countries, Covenant House extended its service into Latin America to assist children living in the streets. In 1981 Covenant House opened its doors for the first time as Casa Alianza in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala expanding later on to Guatemala City in 1986.6
Covenant House ran a Social Reintegration Program in Guatemala for street living youth. Its task was to identify the social risks that hurried the movement of many youth into the streets. Covenant House would design interventions addressing social needs with concrete solutions. Many of the factors related to street migration revolve around limited opportunities in the children’s communities of origin. Recognizing this association, Casa Alianza Guatemala started to work with the street youth and the communities of origin. Casa Alianza created vocational opportunities for youth within their local community such as youth cooperatives and technical skill shops.7
In 1990, Casa Alianza opened an office of Legal Assistance for victims. The purpose of legal assistance is to help on the protection of the victim. Additionally, Casa Alianza was taking the criminal cases and managing the procedures to Guatemala’s Child Court. Legal Aid also has a role in maintaining contact with the international human rights organizations, as international support has been an important means of forcing the state to recognize human right violations. 8
6 Kristin M. Furguson, “Shaping Street-Children Organizations Across the Americas: The Influence Of Politcial, Social and Cultural Contexts on Covenant House and Casa Alianza”, In Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work 23, no. 4 (2004).
http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/faculty/kferguson/ST_Covenant.pdf (accessed May 22, 2014).
7 Furguson, “Shaping-Street Children Organizations Across The Americas: The Influence Of Politcial, Social And Cultural Contexts On Covenant House And Casa Alianza”.
8“Cuatro Etapas Casa Alianza.” Monita.dk.
http://www.monita.dk/Casa%20Alianza%20spansk/las_actividades_transversales.htm (accessed May, 24, 2014).
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Although, in 2009 after more than 20 years working in Guatemala, Casa Alianza closed its doors due to lack of financial resources.9 In Casa Alianza’s data they estimated that there are 5 thousand to 7 thousand street youth that living on the streets and assisted by the institution. This meant the discontinuing support to the street youth and closing the shelter. Nonetheless, after closing Casa Alianza the personnel kept supporting the project to support the street youth. There is why El Refugio de la Niñez (Children Shelter) is founded.
5.1.2.1 La Alianza in Guatemala
The Covenant House who manages Casa Alianza’s projects, in the same year decided to reopen as La Alianza. The focus now was to support child and adolescent victims of human trafficking and victims at social risk. According to Susy (the interviewee from La Alianza in Guatemala), the instution has been active since 2010 in several programs linked with human trafficking.
According to the information provided by La Alianza, the victims’ areas they support on human trafficking issues are:10
1. Prevention Program: In the prevention program La Alianza works on site.
They reach communities, municipalities or departments around the country.
La Alianza desires to have a direct contact with the population such as parents, students, and community leaders or any individual that wants to know about the issue. La Alianza usually contacts the leader of the community to coordinate the different groups. In this way, La Alianza can schedule and organize workshops on awareness and other issues that involve human trafficking. The aim for the prevention program to go on site is to reach
9 Victor Hugo Martinez, “Anuncian Cierre de Humanitaria Casa Alianza por Crisis Financiera.” NTR Periodismo Crítico (January 2009).
http://ntrzacatecas.com/2009/01/16/anuncian-cierre-de-humanitaria-casa-alianza-por-crisis-financiera/ (accessed May 23, 2014).
10 Suzy Gonzales, La Alianza, Telephone Interview, Interviewed by Ruth Calderon, May 22, 2014.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
communities that lack understanding about human trafficking, the understanding of the crime and learn to identify it.
The employee from La Alianza interviewed is who coordinates the trainings and workshops in the communities. In the Prevention Section there are only two employees. They are the ones responsible for going to the communities and complying with the requests of the population. La Alianza stated that the reason why the human resources are limited in the institution is because of the lack of financial resources to recruit more personnel. Limited financial resources are seen as an obstacle as they cannot cover all the communities that are expected.
Process for Prevention projects: Before going to the communities, first step is the proposal for a project to the Covenant House for approval. After Covenant House approves the project they search for institutions or enterprises that can support financially. The project has different donors at the same time mainly private enterprises according to the interviewee from La Alianza and mainly coming from the US.
Duration of the Prevention Projects: The period for each project depends on the plan of the project and the financial support they receive. In 2010, they spent 25 days in different communities offering training. In 2013 they spent one month and a half visiting communities. The length of stay on site is depending on the number of groups they have. If it is no more than 2 groups they can finish in 2 or 3 days but if it is 5 groups they may stay in the community for a week.
The communities that La Alianza covers are targeted community where the victims come from. La Alianza mentioned that the reason why they stay no more than a week in the communities is to avoid any risk or threat to their lives. Furthermore, to prevent traffickers and recruiters get to know the personnel of La Alianza. So they prefer to be
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
complete the trainings in no more than three days in each community. La Alianza is an obstacle for the traffickers and recruiters to deceive victim when La Alianza is giving awareness workshops to the community.
Indigenous Community Trainings: As mentioned previously in the research 60 percent of Guatemala’s population is indigenous. Of two employees working in prevention one can speak Mayan dialect. In case they speak different dialect someone from the community is asked to translate from Spanish to the specific dialect the community speaks.
Additionally, during the interview it was also asked: How could they measure the effectiveness or success of a project in Prevention? The answer given by the coordinator was:
• It is difficult for La Alianza to evaluate the progress of the prevention in the communities due to the fact they do not have the opportunity to go back and revisit.
• To measure the impact of the work they have done, the identification of human trafficking by the community can be a measurement for prevention program. Casa Alianza mentioned that “For example: they can identify a case of human trafficking and notify the La Alianza. La Alianza takes the case and reports the complaint in that way guiding the people of the community on which steps to take when they identify a case. They considered this as a progress for people in the community being able to identify victims of human trafficking”. A measuring device of the progress of the people who have been trained is very difficult according to the Prevention Program coordinator from La Alianza.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
2. Legal Support: This section of La Alianza is mainly for legal advice and for victims’ protection. La Alianza in Guatemala has 4 lawyers. Two of them are in charge of the victims that La Alianza is assisting in the shleter. The other two are external lawyers. They mentioned that lawyers are requested to assist victims who are not in La Alianza shelter. Sometimes lawyers are requested by other institutions for legal advice and support in the legal process of the victims’ case.
For the legal process, to be active by La Alianza a judge must refer children from the Child Court. No institution can just see someone in the street and say this person is a victim of human trafficking. Plus, the institution cannot admit a victim into the institution because the law of Guatemala does not allow such action. La Alianza must receive the information from the victim’s case and the judge’s verdict. The Child Court collects the victims’ statement and the process of the investigation. If the judge decides that the victim cannot live with his or her parents then, the Child Court is responsible to search for a temporary housing. La Alianza being a temporary shelter institution is always an option for judges to refer victims.
Furthermore, when the victim is taken to La Alianza the judge already has sent a report to the Public Prosecutor Office and also to La Alianza. La Alianza has a team of psychologists, social workers and lawyers for the victim’s process from assistance, protection to her reintegration into the society, which is the main goal. The psychologists and social workers will do a follow up by interviewing the victims.
Psychologists will gather as much information as they can until the assessment by them is complete. Then, when required information is gathered to support the case, the lawyers start to work on the legal process. The lawyers are now responsible for
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
the hearings in court or instructing the victim of what process is going to be and how is going to be.
The lawyers must accompany the victims to the hearing and they are the ones who declare the statements to the judge. Although it is important to note that at the end the judge decides if the victims stay indefinitely in the institution or if the victims must reintegrate to live with their family. In the meantime, social workers will start to make visits to the parents to inspect the environment where the victims live. The social workers will have to investigate if the parents have the financial support for the victim and if it is a safe household to live. Social workers look for different options in case their parents cannot support the victim, such as looking for other relatives. The psychologists at the same time start to treat the victim to heal the emotional and psychological damage that was done to them while being exploited by any means. All of this process is parallel with the legal and the reintegration process.
3. Temporary Shelter: Currently, La Alianza has a capacity for 60 children and adolescents in the shelter. Some of the adolescents are mothers so their babies are with them increasing the number of victims to assist. Most of the adolescents and children in the shelter have been sexually and violently abused.
Only three of criminal cases of human trafficking were referred to La Alianza from 2010 to 2013. La Alianza noted the reason is because of the perception of human trafficking of the judges in court. Furthermore, they explained it is very difficult to identify if the person is a victim of human trafficking because it is linked with other crimes. La Alianza stated, “For example if an adolescent is victim of violation by her father this is considered a crime committed as sexual violation. Although at the same time, her father would also use her daughter for sex trade. He will contact other adults
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
to have sexual relations with her and in exchange for money. This act is considered human trafficking because the father is receiving a pay for a sexual service against his daughter’s will”.
Moreover, when the case is sent to Court in most of cases the judge will give higher priority to sexual abuse crime leaving behind the second crime, which is human trafficking. Most of the cases are not defined as human trafficking but as sexual abuse.
Generally, the victims’ originated from the departments that are near the border with Mexico and El Salvador. Also, other children are coming from the Inter American route (called by Guatemalans) that is a route connecting Guatemala City with 7 departments on the west. This same route also connects to the border with Mexico.
Although, they are not from the capital city children are brought to Guatemala City and referred to La Alianza or El Refugio de la Niñez for assistance. Even though there are two government shelters that are situated outside the capital city victims will be taken to the capital.
4. Advocacy: The director of La Alianza is the person in charge of this section.
She is responsible for influencing other NGOs and institutions to work together against human trafficking. They are part of the network against human trafficking and networks that give support to children. It is their job to lobby with other INGOs and NGOs to government institutions to join forces.
The person being interviewed knows very little but she explained that the work is very demanding and requires a lot of time.
5.1.2.2 Project Partnerships 5.1.2.3
During the interview it was asked if they worked in partnership with other NGOs when implementing their projects. The information given is that the two projects they worked are with two different organizations. In 2010 they worked with Plan
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Internacional (International Plan) for two months. Their role was to organize and assemble all the community and La Alianza giving the training. They also worked with Save the Children in 2011 in different schools where Save the Children gave different lectures in different areas for La Alianza to share experience of combating human trafficking.
At the end of every project La Alianza has the responsibility to issue a report of the Prevention Project describing characteristics, communities visited, the amount of time, the financial resources they used, how they used them. They send one report to Covenant House and another one to the donors.
UNICEF and La Alianza: La Alianza had a small partnership with UNICEF. La Alianza gave the support, in technical assistance and training to UNICEF employees in human trafficking. The duration of the partnership was only for a month. It was expected there would be a longer project with UNICEF but it did not take place.
The Government and La Alianza: The government institutions that La Alianza has worked with are: Child Court, Human Rights Attorney, and Public Prosecutor Office in human trafficking issues. They have also worked in the borders training policeman, child court and other institutions in the area. Essentially, the partnership is collaboration from La Alianza to the government. La Alianza has trained the personnel from the specialized institutions that work against human trafficking.
Financially, the government of Guatemala does not support La Alianza.11 During the interview it was asked why. The answer was that they do not have clear idea. The director of Casa Alianza in charge of planning projects is in charge of finding funds for the projects. The director sends the project to different donors and waits for an approval. Some donors may answer back while may not. But it is clear that the
11 Suzy Gonzalez, La Alianza, Telephone Interview, Interviewed by Ruth Calderon, May 04, 2014
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
government does not give any support. The source of La Alianza’s aid is 100 percent external and from private enterprises.
5.1.2.4 Achievement with government institutions
Although their work is on site and focused on victims, they have seen an impact in the government institutions. In awareness and training there has been a change in Coatepque by La Alianza. A children protection network has been strengthening in Coatepeque. Whenever there is a case of human trafficking there is coordination between the institutions in the community such as the National Police, Prosecutor Office, Court of Children and Attorneys General Office. La Alianza indicated to be an achievement, no need to be monitoring cases or guiding the government on the process in Coatepeque. Also, La Alianza mentioned that normally the process in the municipalities is not the same way but this was achieved in this particular municipality.
According to the Interview to La Alianza Limitations as an Institution are:12 1. La Alianza as an institution has to be constantly updating their knowledge on new
forms of human trafficking, update reports and new laws. The added pressure and load of work impacts them in the continuous learning on their work.
2. The personnel have to be mentally and physically healthy to do the work. In order to offer good assistance to victims it is necessary for La Alianza employee to leave their personal problems aside.
3. The infrastructure of the institution is very small. La Alianza does not have the space for many children. If La Alianza o El Refugio is full children are taken to a
3. The infrastructure of the institution is very small. La Alianza does not have the space for many children. If La Alianza o El Refugio is full children are taken to a