GFEMS and HAART partner to support survivors and vulnerable youth in Kenya

As a part of our partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, GFEMS is excited to share the launch of our new project and partnership with HAART. Coupled with other efforts in this portfolio, the project objectives are to support vulnerable youth and survivors of overseas forced labor, and to reduce vulnerability to exploitation for survivors and prospective migrants from Kenya. 

HAARTwas formed in 2010 with a vision to see a world free from trafficking in persons. Since its inception, HAART has reached more than 60,000 people through its outreach activities and assisted more than 600 victims of human trafficking from across the region.

Ethical Recruitment is a key focus of the Fund’s efforts. Working within our intervention framework, we target reduction in supply of vulnerable individuals, demand for cheap goods and services, and the enabling environment that allows modern slavery to persist and traffickers to operate with impunity. This project specifically targets the supply of vulnerable individuals and the enabling environment. 

On the supply side, GFEMS and HAART will focus on providing rehabilitation and reintegration services to victims. The project will both identify victims and provide them with trauma-informed and victim-centered rehabilitation services, including access to medical aid, shelter, and other basic services. To assist survivors and youth in securing long-term ethical employment, HAART will cooperate with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) to facilitate the Technical Vocational and Education Training (TVET) program.

By increasing the number of survivors successfully rehabilitated and reintegrated in their communities and by empowering vulnerable youth by driving their employability in the private sector, the project specifically targets sustainable reduction in vulnerability to trafficking.  

Addressing the enabling environment, the project will engage with source communities to identify and report trafficking and exploitation. HAART will conduct a community sensitization campaign on human trafficking to increase awareness about HAART’s helpline, basic identification of victims, and where to get help in the community.

GFEMS incorporates rigorous learning and evaluation agendas into each project. In this project, GFEMS will assess the unique psychosocial and livelihood support needs of survivors and vulnerable populations. GFEMS will document the extent to which the project activities have been tailored to appropriately address identified needs and support the economic empowerment of both groups. We will also conduct intervention effectiveness evaluations to ensure that the individualized case management plans respond to the survivors’ needs. 

GFEMS looks forward to providing updates on this project and sharing our learnings with the anti-trafficking community. For updates on this project and others like it, subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

This article and the HAART project were funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of State. The opinions, findings and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State.

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