The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons administers a foreign assistance grant program dedicated solely to eradicating all forms of human trafficking globally, as outlined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), as amended, and consistent with the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (Palermo Protocol).
The Office’s anti-trafficking programmatic efforts target programs that address human trafficking: the act of obtaining or maintaining another person in compelled service, which includes forced labor, sex trafficking, bonded labor, debt bondage, involuntary domestic servitude, forced child labor and child soldiers.
Partnering with civil society, multilateral organizations, and foreign governments, the Office awards foreign assistance grants to combat both sex trafficking and labor trafficking according to the “3 P” paradigm: preventing trafficking in persons, protecting and assisting trafficking victims, and prosecuting traffickers.
The Office’s foreign assistance priorities are strategically linked to the global trends and country-specific tier rankings and diagnostic assessments included in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. In addition to targeting Tier 3, Tier 2 Watch List, and selected Tier 2 countries when making funding decisions, the Office also considers a country’s financial resources and need for additional technical expertise in human trafficking, political will to address trafficking in persons, and other U.S. government funding that may be aimed at addressing trafficking in the country.
The 2011 TIP Report noted that throughout the decade since the UN adopted the Palermo Protocol and the U.S. enacted of the TVPA, 142 countries have become parties to the Protocol, and most have passed laws criminalizing all forms of human trafficking and have begun to develop victim assistance mechanisms. However, the numbers of victims identified and assisted and traffickers convicted remain alarmingly low. The challenge of the next ten years—what Secretary Clinton has termed a “decade of delivery”—is for governments to fully implement the legal and programmatic frameworks that have been created.
The Office requests grant applications and selects projects for funding through an annual open, transparent, and fair competition.
The 2012 solicitation, Request for Statements of Interest, was announced on October 14, 2011. See 2012 Request for Statements of Interest. Applications may be submitted via the Internet on www.grantsolutions.gov or www.grants.gov. Applicants are especially encouraged to submit proposals at www.grantsolutions.gov because this website is currently being used by the Office to manage grant actions.
Through this solicitation and in keeping with the priorities identified in the TIP Report, the Office seeks to fund programs that assist foreign governments to enforce laws to combat human trafficking and expand victim assistance services, demonstrate model approaches to combating human trafficking, and add to our knowledge and understanding of how best to eradicate modern slavery through research and evaluation.
The Office uses a two-stage competitive process:
1. Applicants are invited to submit a two-page Statement of Interest (SOI), which summarizes a proposed project, includes the information requested in the solicitation, and meets the technical requirements. Following a technical review of each SOI and interagency review panels, selected applicants are invited to submit a full proposal that expands on their SOI.
2. Invited proposals are evaluated by competitive review panels and considered for funding. Given the high volume of applications—a total of 998 in 2010 and 2011—competition for limited funding is rigorous and applicants are encouraged to pay careful attention to the technical and other requirements specified in the annual solicitation.
The Office hosted its Bidders' Conference on October 17, 2011, at the Department of State in Washington, DC. This public event provides information about the solicitation to organizations interested in applying for funding. Please see the Frequently Asked Questions and FY2012 Funding Opportunity Overview for additional information on how to apply.
In Fiscal Year 2011, the Office administered $16 million in foreign assistance and awarded 96 percent of its funds appropriated for anti-trafficking projects. Awards for three projects under consideration were deferred. In all, in FY 2011 the Office awarded 69 grants to 43 organizations in 37 countries totaling nearly $24 million. These funds included approximately $4 million in FY 2010 funds appropriated specifically for anti-trafficking projects in Haiti, as well as $4 million in other FY 2010 funds the Office administered. Click here for TIP Programs funded in 2011.
During FY 2010, the Office administered $21 million in global foreign assistance and awarded 97 grants to 61 organizations in 51 countries totaling $33 million. Most of these funds ($19 million) were FY 2010 appropriated funds; the remainder ($14 million) was appropriated in FY 2009. Click here for TIP Programs Funded in 2010.
The Office currently oversees 168 bilateral, regional, and global projects totaling $64 million in 70 countries. Click here for regional maps.
