Mobilizing Civil Society to Strengthen Sub-National Counter-Human Trafficking Initiatives

Hamro Samman Project

Call for Expressions of Interest - No. 6817-19-EOI-03

Mobilizing Civil Society to Strengthen Sub-National Counter-Human Trafficking Initiatives

1.Summary of the Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI)

The onset of federalism in Nepal mandates provincial and local level governmentsto enact laws, policies and guidelines that can have an impact in the prevention of human trafficking, the protection of people at-risk of being trafficked and human trafficking survivors and the prosecution of perpetrators. Concurrently, the district level still has important functions in coordinating formal justice actors to investigation, prosecute and adjudicate counter trafficking crimes, and, with recent changes to the Foreign Employment Act, mediating and adjudicating complaints against recruitment agents by the Chief District Officer.

In this context, civil society organizations (CSOs) have an increasingly important role to play in engaging in advocacy and outreach to ensure that counter-trafficking efforts are prioritized by the newly established sub-national governments, that the elected officials understand their obligations and the need, and to actively support government officials to strengthen counter trafficking in persons (CTIP) efforts at the sub-national level.

Through this grant pool, the Hamro Samman Project aims to empower sub-national CSOs to engage in more effective advocacy on priority CTIP issues, and to position the CSO partner toprovide quality technical support to the government at the provincial, district and local levelto enable it to understand its obligations; establish mechanisms to coordinate and implement a referral system for more effective service delivery to at-risk populations; to collect, analyze and share quality data about human trafficking, migration and related services; to develop survivor-centered and human-rights based laws, policies and guidelines through public consultation; and to prioritize CTIP actions and activities in its annual budget. This will help to improve service delivery to at-risk populations

2.Background

Trafficking in persons (TIP) is a complex problem that requires multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary solutions. Nepal is a source, transit and destination country of human trafficking for labor, sex and organ removal exploitation. Some studies have estimated that a quarter of a million Nepalis are in forced labor or other forms of trafficking at any given time, with millions more vulnerable due to poverty, lack of employment and other livelihood opportunities and lack of information about trafficking and services for victims and survivors.

The Hamro Samman Project is a five-year project generously supported by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Winrock International.  Its goal is to reduce the prevalence of trafficking in persons in 10 strategically selected districts of Nepal. Using the ‘4Ps’ framework- Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Partnership, the Hamro Samman project will bring together various stakeholders and implementing partners to reduce the prevalence of trafficking in persons through three objectives:

• Objective 1: Strengthening federal, provincial and local Government of Nepal (GON) efforts to combat TIP;
• Objective 2: Improving Civil Society Organization (CSO) advocacy and engagement to address TIP; and
• Objective 3: Increasing private sector partnerships (PSPs) to service TIP survivors and at-risk populations.

3.Geographical Focus

The Hamro Samman Project is focusing its activities in three provinces, 10 districts and 36 municipalities (to be determined):

• Province 3 – Makwanpur,Kathmandu, Nuwakot, and Sindhupalchowk
• Province 5 – Rupendehi, Kapilbastu, Banke and Bardiya
• Province 7 – Kailali and Kanchanpur

4.Grant to counter human trafficking CSO to lead advocacy, oversight, and participation in anti-human traffickingactivities at the provincial, districtand local level

Hamro Samman is seeking one or more Nepali CSO organizations or networks to cover all ten target districts and all 36 target municipalities. It is anticipated that one partner will be based in each province and provide sub-grants to district-based CSOs for specific activities with district, municipal and ward-level government partners, but Hamro Samman is open to creative suggestions and an organization may apply to cover more than one province.

The complete EOI package can be found here: https://www.winrock.org/call-for-expressions-of-interest-mobilizing-civil-society-to-strengthen-sub-national-counter-human-trafficking-initiatives/

The total grant pool is initially approximately NPR 42 million (approximately $385,000) for a total of 18 months. A cost extension is possible.

Disclaimer: The issuance of this EOI and any assistance provided during the application development do not constitute an award or commitment on the part of the Hamro Samman Project, nor does it commit the Hamro Samman Project to pay for costs incurred during the preparation and submission of the application. The Hamro Samman Project reserves the right to accept or reject any or all applications received and reserves the right to ask further clarifications from the applicants.