USAID Backs Anti-Trafficking Efforts in Cagayan Valley

The United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has partnered with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) Region 2 and the Partnership for Development Assistance in the Philippines (PDAP) to strengthen anti-human trafficking initiatives in Cagayan Valley.

“This partnership with USAID is not merely anchored on the similarity of our programs. We share the noble goal and common desire to end this massive humanitarian challenge in human trafficking,” IACAT Region 2 Chairperson Rommel Baligod said during the memorandum of agreement signing at the Department of Justice Region 2 office in Tuguegarao City on January 16.

“With this partnership that we forged with PDAP and USAID, it is our greatest hope that we will see significant strides in our campaign against human trafficking,” Baligod added.

“The United States and the Philippines share a firm commitment to end trafficking in persons. Through this partnership, we will strengthen local systems to protect individuals vulnerable to trafficking and promote the long-term safety of communities across the Cagayan Valley region,” said USAID Deputy Mission Director Rebekah Eubanks.

Under the partnership, USAID, IACAT Region 2, and PDAP will work to combat trafficking through public advocacy campaigns targeting vulnerable populations, training frontline workers, strengthening anti-trafficking measures in schools and communities, and assisting in the development of local ordinances to protect victims.

In 2019, USAID launched the eight-year PHP 364 million ($6.5 million) Strengthening Local Systems and Partnerships for a More Effective and Sustainable Counter-Trafficking in Persons (Strength CTIP) Program in collaboration with PDAP. The program seeks to protect trafficking survivors, prosecute offenders, and promote collaboration across sectors in alignment with the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report and the Philippine government’s National Strategic Action Plan Against TIP.

“The forms and challenges of human trafficking have changed dramatically. PDAP will equip the region with effective community-based tools and models that our partners in nine other regions have used in countering trafficking in persons,” said Strength CTIP Chief of Party Eugenio Gonzales.

For more information about USAID’s efforts to combat trafficking in persons, visit www.usaid.gov/trafficking.