UNIAP | no-trafficking.org | Shelter Self-Improvement Initiative

Shelter Self-Improvement

Within the process of victim protection, from victim identification to reintegration, shelter (and other custodial facility) stays are just a fraction of the services that may be appropriate for an individual victim. Still, investing in better shelters and transit centers that meet international standards, and in the capacity of facility managers to provide better services, is an investment that trafficking victims deserve. While anti-trafficking organizations and victim service agencies have been working steadily to improve the services available to trafficked persons across the region, there are still shelters that struggle to provide care and protection that meet international quality standards. These facilities are often run by shelter managers and staff who lack the financial or technical resources to improve the conditions of their facilities, the quality of services that they offer to trafficked persons, or the breadth of referral services that meet the needs of the victims they serve. While many government and non-government agencies are involved in the longer term process of developing and implementing procedures for improved comprehensive victim protection under COMMIT, UNIAP aims to jump-start this process through an innovative time-bound approach that builds the capacity of shelter managers and helps them to help each other improve the conditions of their facilities.

How does it work? Over the course of 1 year…

Government and NGO shelter managers, counselors, and victim service providers are trained by UNIAP on how to do shelter inspections, and how to train others to do shelter inspections, using a scoring sheet that rates various aspects of shelters according to international standards (facilities, services, case management systems, etc.);
The national shelter self-improvement group divides into teams and conducts group visits to each others’ shelters;
After the shelter visits and based on the scores and the identified areas that require the most improvement in each of the shelters, the national shelter self-improvement group will determine the best way to allocate funding among the shelters for immediate improvements, whether physical changes or improvements to the system, capacity, or case management;
Over the course of several months, the shelter improvements are made, and common capacity needs are addressed by specialized group trainings;
The national shelter self-improvement teams reconvene to revisit each of the improved shelters and conduct follow-up inspections to document the improvements; and
A strategy workshop reconvenes the shelter self-improvement group along with other victim service provider NGOs and relevant central government officials to discuss next steps and sustainability – longer term plans for continued shelter improvement, strengthening referral networks, strengthening reach to victims not served by the system, for example self-returns, etc.

Learn more about the progress of the Shelter Self-Improvement Project