Applicable Best Practices in Strengthening Government Capacity to Address Trafficking in Persons Abroad: Lessons Learned from Winrock International
Christopher Wooley, MIA & Stephanie Lillegard, MID | September 22 | 3:15-4:15 pm
Topic: International, Programming | Knowledge Level: Advanced
Countries of the Global North dedicate millions of dollars per year to assist nations of the Global South to combat and address human trafficking, with the U.S. government alone dedicating well over USD$100 million to this end each year (GAO, 2020; Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022). A good portion of these funds go to projects to strengthen the institutional capacity of national governments and their relevant agencies to prevent trafficking, prosecute traffickers, and protect victims – with varying degrees of success. Winrock International, an international non-profit organization working in over 40 countries, has implemented such TIP capacity-building programming around the world since the late 1990s, and the presenters believe that Winrock, its expert practitioners, and their collective experiences can complement a growing body of academic and scholarly literature on the topic (Foot, 2016; Winterdyk 2018) with practical, real-life lessons from the field applicable to future international efforts. As such, this presentation will present best practices and lessons learned in strengthening government capacity to combat trafficking in persons, as determined by a literature review of evaluations of previous and ongoing Winrock projects to be triangulated with qualitative data from focus group discussions with experienced Winrock professionals in this field. Findings will focus on four main areas: Project Design, Stakeholder Engagement, Activity Implementation, and Monitoring Results. Many findings will likely apply to domestic capacity-building efforts in the U.S. The session will end with a discussion about ongoing capacity-building work in which they may be engaged.
Presentation Objectives:
· Discuss ongoing efforts to strengthen government capacity to address trafficking in persons within the context of international development programming
· Identify and describe best practices in Project Design, Stakeholder Engagement, Activity Implementation, and Monitoring Results
· Explore connections and applicability of Winrock best practices and lessons learned to participants’ anti-TIP work