What Do We Do?
Terre des hommes Foundation is a Swiss NGO whose vocation is the promotion and protection of Child Rights worldwide. Terre des hommes has been present in Albania for more than 15 years and has developed major projects to address child trafficking. The most comprehensive response has been developed for the last years under the TACT project (Transnational Action against Child Trafficking), a sustained effort to prevent child trafficking between Albania, Greece and Kosovo.
TACT Project aims at improving information and awareness about trafficking and its risks. Efforts are especially addressed to protect and assist victims, families, and witnesses, in a legal way. TACT calls for the official recognition and extension of application of existing good practices related to Assisted Voluntary Returns of minors. - All reintegration activities are based on existing local NGO-based programs, addressing the root causes, especially social support, education and vocational training (4.Reintegration axis).
- The project strategy insists on the reinforcement of the inter-NGO coalition against child trafficking (BKTF) and the institutional capacity building of the public social services (5.Coordination axis).
TACT offers support to victims and children at risk through:
- Street and community work
- Physical protection and psychosocial support
- Legal and administrative assistance
- Economic support to families (loans and grants)
- Assistance and accompaniment during voluntary return
- School information campaigns
- Prevention sessions in areas "at risk"
- Reintegration in school
- Facilitation of enrollment in vocational training programs
Our Goals
TACT III (2006-2009) is the last phase of the project and aims to sustain its achievements while enhancing its impact to a deeper level. Its twofold strategy will emphasize:
- Capacity building of State and NGO duty bearers with a logic of progressive transfer of skills, practices and resources, while maintaining TACT field involvement to continue responding to the needs.
- Empowerment of most affected communities themselves with responsiveness to their initiatives in preventing child trafficking and child exploitation. The development of ownership and responsibility by the communities (mainly Roma and Egyptians) in implementing durable solutions will necessitate TACT to be sensitive and responsive to coping mechanisms developed by people themselves to resist to traffickers.
Within the frame of TACT, Tdh and Arsis will continue their coordinated actions to the benefit of the Albanian children. The referral of cases from both sides will progress and TACT will increasingly seek to involve other structures in the follow-up of the cases.
Seeking a comprehensive transfer of knowledge, experience, and services with the goal of developing a strategic community based approach, TACT III will aim to mainstream the concept of child protection within the State Education and Social Service Systems to increase awareness of the need for a coordinated effort to prevent the trafficking of Albanian children and to establish an operational child protection safety net.
The progressive taking over of duty bearers will eventually allow the phasing out of the project and sustain the child protection net necessary to avoid resurgence of massive child trafficking.
The prime Target Group of TACT III are children victims or at risk of being victims of trafficking (about a thousand children, mostly from minorities groups). To sustain their protection, integration and welfare, the project targets primarily their families and beyond the duty bearers, from community to State level.
In a broader sense, the project addresses also to all the population, as trafficking is as well a result of social discrimination and misconceptions which are the responsibility of all us.
