Our 2011 programs  :

• LEARN, UNDERSTAND, ACT : a program for the education and the protection of women an children

• CHILDHOOD AT RISK : a program to prevent children from becoming children of the streets in urban areas

• NOT FOR SALE: a program for re-integration and assistance to victims of sexual exploitation

• PASSPORT THROUGH HELL: a program for the prevention of human trafficking and migrations at risk

Among South Asian countries, Nepal is considered as the main country of origin of human trafficking, particularly to India and for aims of sexual exploitation. According to the different actors in the fight against trafficking 5,000 to 7,000 Nepalese girls and women per year are trafficked to India. A survey even considers that this figure may reach 12,000 per year.

To those figures it is necessary to add the group of women and young girls sold for other reasons than sexual exploitation, in India, but also in South East Asian countries and Gulf countries. Indeed, migration of Nepalese seeking employment has become extremely important. Even if migration and human trafficking are not directly linked, the risk of human trafficking and work exploitation is heavy for women who are often illiterate and disadvantaged, and leave Nepal in search of work. The first pretext used by traffickers to deceive their victims is the false promise of a job, in over 70 % of the cases.

The origin and the development of this commerce are linked to structural factors such as lack of education, discrimination between classes and ethnic groups, extreme poverty in the country and lack of employment.  Current factors also contribute: Nepal has suffered civil war for ten years, from 1996 to 2006, followed by political instability, while the administration focused on other priorities.

There is also traditional violence towards women and children: precisely, violence to a woman or a child is adirect cause of her/his vulnerability to human trafficking. Domestic violence, for instance, is often the origin of women and children’s departure from their home and then of their future sexual exploitation by traffickers….. In other words, even if  all the victims of violence are not all trafficked, any person is a  victim of trafficking has almost always suffered from some form of violence in the past.

Despite the existence of national laws and ratification of international instruments by Nepal, the actions of the Nepalese government are not sufficient, and communities’ answers, supported by NGO,'s prove to be necessary.

Our  action in Nepal lis based on the following principles of intervention :

• Strengthening the capacity of women in parallel with the assistance to children

To defend children, PE considers that one of the priorities is to reinforce the capacities of mothers to protect them. In this manner, our programs apply not only to children who need assistance but also to vulnerable women in order to give them social, economical and educational means to develop a culture of right and solidarity around them.

• The participation of the beneficiaries

All our interventions are initiated when future beneficiaries express their needs. Moreover, we involve them as much as possible in operating the activities, to establish a culture of mutual self-help, and also to reinforce self-esteem.

• Partnership with local associations

We systematically work in partnership with local associations to benefit from their field knowledge and with a view to transferring competence and sustainability.

• Involvement of local authorities

Coordination with local authorities is systematically sought so as to facilitate the handover of our actions to local administration.

We directly act with women and children, victims of violence and, upstream, with communities, local actors and vulnerable populations.

Our strategic axes of intervention are similar, whatever the target group and the form of violence. We develop a community approach based on Human Rights in order to:

• Sensitize the public, communities and intermediate populations (authorities, police,  media, militants)

• Protect the most vulnerable populations and reinforce their rights (access to justice, information, advice, education, economic support, establish civil status )

• Assist, rehabilitate and reinstate the victims by creating a range of services ( psychological  and medical support, professional training, legal permanence, etc.),

• Reinforce local protection mechanisms by improving the capacities of the local associations and public actors.

We also provide direct assistance to children in case of emergency (floods, local displacements after local fights…). Their needs (medical care, clothing, shelter, NFI…) are determined with our partners responsible for logistics (routing, distribution, and follow up). We take care of buying and/or financing the necessary resources