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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

COMBATING CHILD TRAFFICKING IN TOGO THROUGH EDUCATION (COMBAT)

Region/Country

AFRICA/Togo

Project Duration

July 8, 2002 – July 5, 2006

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY2002: USD2,000,000

Problem to be Addressed

Togo has been identified as mainly a supplier country of trafficked children. For children who are rescued, options include long journeys back to their homes or life on the streets. Children are often unable to reintegrate into the school system, leaving them again at high risk. Although the exact number of children trafficked is not known, estimates indicate that approximately 100,000 children have been affected. Trafficked children find themselves in Lomé or in neighboring countries providing cheap labor as maids (in the case of girls) or as laborers in plantations. These children are exploited, abused, and denied their rights to basic education. The education system in Togo is in poor condition, and basic infrastructure such as textbooks, teachers, classrooms, and teaching and learning materials is inadequate. Children in rural areas, particularly girls, are worse off than their counterparts in urban areas, leaving them open to the abuse of trafficking intermediaries who promise employment, training, and a cash sum to parents.

Results

The project withdrew 243 children and prevented 6,011 children aged from 5 to 14 years, vulnerable to or at risk of being trafficked for exploitive labor in the Central and Maritime Regions of Togo. The project also worked with child trafficking victims who were repatriated or intercepted as they were being brought out of the country.

Project Objectives

To contribute to the elimination of child trafficking in Togo, through the following objective:

  • Reduce child trafficking, especially among girls, from the Central and Maritime Regions of Togo, through improved and expanded education and social support programs.

Summary of Activities
  • Mobilized and empowered communities;
  • Revitalized the education system;
  • Strengthened existing reintegration centers; and
  • Enhanced the capacity of government and civil society actors.

Grantee

CARE

Implementing partners

Terre des Hommes; AHUEFA; La Colombe; community-based organizations; village development committees; neighborhood development committees; local committee against child trafficking; women’s groups; and school management structures such as PTAs and school management committees.

Contact Information

Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT)

(202) 693-4843