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Washington, DC-The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) is
pleased to announce a new initiative in programming to address the crisis in
trafficking of women. IREX has received three separate awards totaling $2.5
million from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US
Department of State; the International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) of the US
Department of Labor; and the Mission to the Russian Federation of the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) for trafficking
prevention initiatives. IREX's approach focuses on collaboration with local
and international organizations. Its regional scope spans Bulgaria, the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, and the Russian
Federation.
Under the Prevention of Trafficking in Women and Girls Program, a one-year
project funded by the Office of Citizen's Exchanges at ECA, IREX is
partnering with two Russian crisis centers for women-the Saratov Regional
Crisis Center and the Barnaul "Women's Alliance." Over the course of the
project, IREX and its partners will improve the institutional capacities of
the centers in addressing trafficking in women and girls; carry out
educational campaigns at all levels of the community; and hold seminars for
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), educational institutions, and
orphanages, to engage them as active partners in a campaign to prevent the
trafficking of women and girls in Western Siberia and Southern Russia. For
more information on this program, go to
http://www.irex.org/programs/anti-trafficking.
The Regional Empowerment Initiative for Women, a two-year project funded by
ILAB of the US Department of Labor, addresses the root economic issues
associated with the trafficking of women. IREX will establish seven centers
collocated with experienced local women's NGOs in major cities of Bulgaria,
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, and the
Russian Federation to provide basic job skills training and placement
support for at-risk women; promote women's empowerment, including crisis
hotline assistance as well as legal and psychological counseling; raise
awareness of labor laws, the risks of employment abroad, and potential
trafficking schemes through targeted public outreach campaigns; and provide
small grants to support women entrepreneurs in the creation of sustainable
enterprises. For more information on this program, go to
http://www.irex.org/programs/reiw.
The Trafficking Prevention and Information Dissemination Program (TPID), a
three-year project funded by the Mission to the Russian Federation of USAID,
is also built on the conviction that economic alternatives and individual
empowerment for women are critical in addressing the trafficking issue. IREX
has partnered with four crisis centers to develop a regional network of
empowerment centers in Russia. "Ekaterina" in Ekaterinburg, "Maya" in
Petrozavodsk, and "Obereg" in Krasnodar-all tied into "Syostri" in
Moscow-will provide women with demand-driven basic skills training, such as
practical business skills and micro-enterprise development training, in
addition to leadership training and psychological, legal, and peer support.
Women participating in center activities will also have the opportunity to
apply their expanded skill set in real job environments through more than
400 internships over the course of the program. An education campaign will
engage the local community for increased public awareness of trafficking at
a grassroots level and engage policymakers and community actors in finding
solutions to the problem. For more information on TPID, go to
http://www.irex.org/programs/tpid/index.htm.
IREX is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement
of knowledge. Central to its mission is the empowering of individuals and
institutions to participate meaningfully in civil society. IREX administers
programs between the United States and the countries of Eastern Europe, the
New Independent States, Asia, and the Near East.
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