Victims of Trafficking Vocational Training Fund (VTF) Project

The VTF project’s objective is to aid women and young people caught up in sexually exploitive employment, or at risk of such, to find alternative sources of income. Without vocational skills and with low levels of education, women and young people have an increased vulnerability to exploitation. NGO shelter workers have estimated that 50% of girls return to sex work after they have been rehabilitated. COSECAM’s VTF project aims to break this cycle through a comprehensive programme of training, education, counselling, and job placement.

Many NGO shelters have, or had, their own individual vocational training programmes. However, success rates have been low with over 70% of girls unable to secure a sustainable living after leaving the recovery centres. COSECAM’s VTF project aims to provide a nation wide comprehensive training and job placement programme with ongoing support for its clients. By combining existing NGO networks into its structure, the network created an economy of scale, providing:

    * More sophisticated market research into job opportunities,
    * Coordination of training programmes in line with market opportunities,
    * Better psycho-social counselling services,
    * Better career counselling services, and
    * A coordinated approach to negotiating with private enterprise to provide jobs.

A central tenant of the VTF project is that each individual client has control over all decisions. Identifying clients needs is key with regard to tailoring an appropriate package of service provision.

 

Economic Development Support to Vulnerable and Trafficked Persons (EDVP) Project

COSECAM-Rehabilitation and Reintegration program has been subcontracted by the DAI/MSME Cambodia; funded by USAID to implement an additional project which is so-called component 5 - Economic Development Support to Vulnerable and Trafficked Persons (EVDP) as one of their six components to strengthen MSME Cambodia Project. In principle this project is covering 24-month period, from October 2006 till September 2008.
The EDVP project has begun operations in three provinces in east Cambodia and in connection to the other components in DAI-MSME’s value chains. This project is being implemented in collaboration with the group of DAI-MSME value chain, the local government authority, and the national and international NGOs based in the target location.

The project aims to promote broad based and sustainable development pro-poor growth in particular those are vulnerable and trafficked persons through economic and business development.

There are three main target groups that might fall within the set of the project criteria designed for selection of the target population, namely:

    * Resident vulnerable families
    * Returnee families, and
    * Migrant families and trafficked individuals originating from the area.