Trafficking Victims Re/integration Programme (TVRP)

Implementing Agencies: KBF, GIZ and NEXUS Institute

Project Partners: Different and Equal (D&E), Tjeter Vizion, Vatra, Medica Zenica, Zemlja Djece, Animus Association, Nadja Centre, Center for Protection of Victims and Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings (PVPT), Hope and Homes, Equal Access, Open Gate, Adpare, Young Generation, Atina, Centre for Youth Integration

Geographic Scope: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo*, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia

Years: 2006-2016

Project Summary: In 2006, the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) in Belgium launched the Trafficking Victims Re/integration Programme (TVRP) to enhance the scope and capacity of reintegration programs and services for trafficking victims in the Balkans. The program was designed based on findings from NEXUS’ 2006 assessment of victim assistance in South-East Europe (SEE), commissioned by KBF, which noted the urgent need to support reintegration efforts both in traditional countries of origin (e.g. Romania, Bulgaria and Albania) and also in countries where national victims were increasingly being identified (e.g. Serbia, Kosovo*, Macedonia). To ensure that trafficking victims would receive the assistance and support required to recover and reintegrate after trafficking, KBF, with technical support from NEXUS Institute, designed a program to enhance the reintegration response in the Balkan region.

The overall objectives of the TVRP were:

To support programs which will result in the sustainable reintegration of trafficking victims;
To build the capacity of NGOs to provide reintegration services and support;
To encourage cooperation and synergies with government services and national referral mechanisms;
To identify effective and human rights centered models of and approaches to reintegration of trafficking victims;
To promote sustainable reintegration programs in the region, which will continue beyond the scope of the TVRP.

The TVRP funded NGOs to provide high quality, comprehensive reintegration assistance to trafficking victims in the Balkans. The project was generously funded by the King Baudouin Foundation from 2007 to 2011. Grants were awarded to nine different NGOs in six countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo*, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia). From 2012 to 2015, the TVRP was co-funded by KBF and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ GmbH), with grants to eleven NGOs in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo*. Overall, between 2007 and 2015, more than 1.5million Euros were provided in grants to reintegration NGOs across the region.

Since the inception of the TVRP in 2006, NEXUS Institute has served as the regional technical advisor, providing technical assistance on all aspects of reintegration programming and working closely with NGO partner organizations, government counterparts and the donors, KBF and GIZ.

Interview with NEXUS Senior Researcher Rebecca Surtees on the TVRP

“At a Glance” paper on the TVRP

Interview with NEXUS Senior Researcher Rebecca Surtees on the TVRP

in French

in Dutch

Project Publications and Studies: NEXUS produced a series of issue papers, publications, assessments, manuals and resources in the context of the TVRP. In addition, there are a number of blog posts derived from the various studies.

Issue papers

Re/integration of trafficked persons. Working with trafficked children and youth (2014)

Children and youth account for a significant proportion of persons trafficked from and within the Balkan region. Both boys and girls are trafficked. Some are exploited sexually; others are exploited for different forms of labor, including begging and street selling. Still others suffer multiple forms of exploitation while trafficked. Reintegrating trafficked children presents particularly complex issues and challenges. This paper discusses each of the different services and types of support needed to meet the reintegration needs of trafficked children and youth in the Balkan region and in line with international standards. It also looks into challenges facing service providers in offering this support to trafficked children and youth, including: the identification of trafficked children, options for providing foster care, and prosecution of perpetrators due to gaps in the criminal code. This paper offers recommendations about how each service area might be enhanced to better meet the reintegration needs of trafficked children and youth.

Re/integration of trafficked persons. Supporting economic empowerment (2012)

A central feature of successful reintegration is access to a reasonable and sustainable standard of living, along with opportunities for economic empowerment. For many victims the desire to improve their economic situation and that of their families was a key factor in their decision to migrate. This desire does not subside after an individual is exploited in trafficking. For escaped or rescued victims of trafficking and their families, economic issues remain primary concerns after return and over the course of the individual’s reintegration. This paper discusses economic empowerment efforts for trafficking victims in the Balkans, drawing on the first hand experiences of both service providers and trafficked persons. The paper outlines the main economic empowerment models used in working with trafficked persons – namely job placement, micro business and social enterprises – and then discusses the challenges faced in using these models, as well as strategies used to address obstacles.

Re/integration of Trafficked Persons – Developing Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanisms (2009)

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) should enhance the conceptual and practical knowledge of reintegration organizations in ways that improve programs and service delivery. This paper discusses, on the one hand, how monitoring should take place within reintegration programs, including the identification of indicators and development of systems to collect, analyze and mobilize information in on-going work. On the other hand, the paper explores various aspects of evaluation work, including different types of evaluations and different approaches in undertaking evaluations of reintegration programs. Overall the paper makes clear that more attention needs to be given to M&E in reintegration efforts and makes recommendations for strengthening the monitoring and evaluation of anti-trafficking reintegration programs.

Re/integration of Trafficked Persons: Handling ‘Difficult’ Cases (2008)

Reintegration of trafficked persons is a complex process, involving a range of services and interventions over the short and longer term. The standard package of reintegration services does not always or entirely meet the needs of all trafficked persons. Specialized reintegration services are needed for beneficiaries with more complex and “difficult” assistance needs. In some cases, more complex needs are a direct consequence of the trafficking experience – for example, becoming pregnant while trafficked, suffering injuries that require medical care and being severely traumatized as a result of trafficking. In other cases, these factors and characteristics preceded trafficking and may have contributed to the person’s vulnerability to trafficking – for example, persons with dependent family members, persons with disabilities, persons with past experiences of violence and social marginalization and persons with no family/social network. This paper explores “difficult” cases among trafficking victims in South-East Europe (SEE), including the ways in which these more complex needs are (and are not) being met within the existing reintegration framework in SEE and strategies for handling “difficult” cases.

Re/integration of Trafficked Persons: How Can Our Work Be More Effective (2008)

Reintegration refers to the process of recovery and economic and social inclusion following a trafficking experience. This process is not only time consuming and expensive but also intensely complex, impacted by a range of personal factors as well as the broader social, cultural and economic framework. This paper explores issues and obstacles to reintegration identified by both service providers and trafficked persons in South-East Europe. These issues have significant implications for designing effective reintegration approaches in other countries in other regions.

Other publications

Who Funds Re/integration? Ensuring sustainable services for trafficking victims (2014)

While reintegration services are critically important to the recovery of trafficking victims, these services tend to be under-funded and under-prioritized. This article identifies and explores the significant gap in funding for long term recovery and reintegration of victims of trafficking throughout the Balkans and the deleterious impact that this has in the lives of trafficked persons and their families.

Ethical principles in the re/integration of trafficked persons. Experiences from the Balkans (2013)

This paper articulates ethical principles that should guide and underpin reintegration programs and polices in the Balkans. It also explores some of the challenges organizations and institutions face in supporting the reintegration of trafficking victims and different strategies to manage and address such ethical issues. A blog post on ethical principles for reintegration work is available here.

Manuals

Monitoring anti-trafficking re/integration programmes. A manual (2010)

It is important to systematically monitor assistance programs, to assess if and how reintegration has been achieved as well as how to more effectively reintegrate trafficking victims. This manual outlines two aspects of monitoring – 1) how to monitor individual reintegration plans and 2) how to monitor reintegration services – and provides a matrix, composed of indicators and the associated means of verification, to measure the outcomes and impact of individual services and, cumulatively, the various stages of reintegration. Monitoring is undertaken from the perspective of reintegration service providers (NGOs, IOs and GOs) as well as program beneficiaries.

Assessments and Evaluations

NEXUS conducted various assessments and evaluations of the TVRP, including an interim assessment in 2011 and a final evaluation in 2015.

Beyond trafficking. The re/integration of trafficking victims in the Balkans, 2007 to 2014 (2015)

Power Point Presentation: Lessons from the TVRP 2007-2014

Power Point Presentation: What is reintegration? And why is it important?

This report presents the results and impact of the Trafficking Victims Re/integration Programme (TVRP) in the lives of trafficked persons, as well as in the field of reintegration in the Balkans. It provides a detailed analysis of the outcomes and impact of the TVRP, which ran from 2007-2014, based on interviews with trafficking victims, partner NGOs, experts and government officials and other sources of data.

Life Beyond Trafficking, The Re/integration of Trafficked Persons in the Balkans 2007-2014 (2015)

Available in Albanian, Serbian and Macedonian

Power Point Presentation – Power Point Presentation in Albanian

Power Point Presentation in Macedonian – Power Point Presentation in Serbian

This report summarizes the main findings of the final TVRP evaluation conducted by NEXUS Institute in 2015. It presents the results and impact of the TVRP in the lives of trafficked persons in the Balkans as well as the results and impact of the TVRP in the field of reintegration.

Lessons from KBF’s Trafficking Victims’ Reintegration Programme (2011)

When the TVRP was designed (in 2006) there were very few reintegration programs available to trafficking victims in the Balkan region. Assistance was short term; most victims did not receive longer term support to restore their mental and physical well-being and develop the skills to be economically independent and live in a healthy social environment. In 2010, NEXUS undertook an assessment of the TVRP (Taking stock). This paper summarizes some of the key lessons and results of the assessment including what is reintegration; how long reintegration takes; why reintegration is challenging; and the impact of the TVRP in the lives of trafficked persons.

Taking stock. Evaluating KBF’s Trafficking Victims Re/integration Programme (TVRP) in the Balkans, 2006 to 2010 (2010)

In 2006, the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) in Belgium launched the Trafficking Victims Re/integration Programme (TVRP) to enhance the scope and capacity of reintegration programs for trafficking victims in the Balkans. This midterm evaluation of the TVRP documented key outputs and interim results from 2007 to 2010, and made recommendations for the orientation of future programming.

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