Victim Protection System on its Way towards a National Standardization


Phnom Penh, 27 November 2009—In an effort to develop a standardized national system for the protection of victims of exploitation and violence, COSECAM has been piloting a Coordinated Case Management project (CCM) for the last year in the northwestern part of the kingdom.

The system is a unique approach in Cambodia and is part of a large-scale project focused on creating a legal and sustainable environment for trafficked human beings from and in Cambodia (CETHCam).

A host of international organizations, international and local NGOs, and government agencies are concerned about the welfare of victims and do whatever they can to protect them. However these efforts are fragmented, poorly designed, undertaken in isolation, and often not effective.

Despite various national plans and policies, there is still no comprehensive approach to victim protection. The purpose of the CCM project is to develop a single standardized approach to supporting and protecting victims.

In close collaboration with Child Welfare Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation and with the support from the Counter Trafficking in Persons Project of the Asia Foundation, Chab Dai Coalition, United Nations Children Funds (UNICEF), International Organization for Migration, the CCM project is aimed at centralizing and professionalizing the coordination of victim support, organized at the central level and implemented on the provincial/municipal levels, and puts the interests of the clients at the center for the approach.

The CCM management includes ten stages for assisting the victims namely identifying victims, registration, social assessment, initial case-conference, the client case plan, referral, service provision, reintegration and follow-up, case closure, and evaluation.

"The main objectives of the CCM pilot is to ensure that the clients' needs are appropriately identified ; that resources are coordinated effectively and that clients are referred through the correct systems," says Mr. Chum Phally, Technical Coordination Unit Coordinator of CETHCam project.

This approach has been successful in other countries and could be a better solution for the referral of victims of exploitation, trafficking and abuses than the system that currently exists in Cambodia.

The CCM project is a three year program that has been funded by the European Union, ICCO, ANESVAD, and INTERVIDA. The project will be piloted in four phases in four different locations.

The first phase of the pilot started in January 2009 in the Battambang province and is looking to expand its activities in the neighboring provinces of Pailin, Pursat and Banteay Meanchey.

The second phase is already started in October 2009, in the Svay Rieng province, which borders with Vietnam.

"The reason we selected Svay Rieng province for the second pilot is that the Provincial Task Force is in place and DoSAVY is a secretariat. Another reason is that there is good co-operation between NGOs and local authorities, DoSAY in particular," says H.E. Prak Chantoeun.

The third phase will follow six months after the second phase has taken place. This will be followed by a forth phase in Phnom Penh.

The pilot in the capital will take place last because conditions in the provinces are less complex and it is easier to get cooperation compared to the situation in Phnom Penh where there are so many agencies.

It is assumed that after these four trials the system will have been developed enough for it to be scaled-up to a national level and implemented nationwide.

"Of course it will become a Prakas as it was suggested by a senior official with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veteran, and Youth Rehabilitation, MoSAVY. However, it needs more time and resources to develop it and make it become a Prakas,".