10 years of Chab Dai: Making a coalition work

The Learning Community project is a definitive part of the Chab Dai programme, being the core of all our coalition-building events, key member trainings and collaboration activities. But since #10yearsofChabDai is all about highlighting the projects and people who have been fundamental to our vision, it seemed like a good opportunity to check in with the LC and its current Project Manager, Um Sam Ol.

Sam Ol started at Chab Dai as a Media and Communications intern in 2010 and, five years later, oversees the member application process, the resource library and our bi-annual member meetings, as well as key trainings for our member NGOs.

“Part of my time is dedicated to screening organisations who apply to be Chab Dai members but we also run the bi-annual member meetings and different types of member forums: directorship, business, caregiver and HR. We invite participants who work in the same area of focus and face similar things and often one of them may have a success or a lesson to share or a tool or resource that can help the others to be successful.”

 

Managing a diverse and dynamic coalition

Being the glue that holds the coalition together is not always straightforward, it seems.

“Our 53 organisations are so diverse and dynamic and have their own focus and as we are the central body, it can be challenging to link up with all of them.” Nevertheless, Sam Ol has seen some great results of capacity-building in action:

“A project coordinator at an NGO based in Banteay Meanchey gave us some really positive feedback about our Child Protection Policy training. The organisation was trying to promote child rights in the community, but they often saw violence, or parents forcing their children to go to work to bring income for the family. After some staff attended our training, they got the knowledge and skills to go back to their staff and pass on the training. Then their staff could train the community and they saw a noticeable improvement.

"The community character has changed in the way they react to the children. They know how to protect children and know what to do when the children are being abused or exploited. We see that they are now respecting their children’s rights more and we saw a reduction of violence happening."

Participant, Child Protection Training

Changing attitudes

When I ask Sam Ol how the human trafficking situation has changed inthe last decade, he talks about a shift in attitudes, from focusing just on aftercare to taking a more holistic approach.

“In the early days, there were a lot of brothels and trafficking was really crazy and that’s why the shelters were needed. But later, the government realized that the best interest of the client is not living in the shelter but with their family. That is why now there is a shift to focus on family and community – a lot of organisations still offer care to the client but more community-based.

“And from the NGO perspective now, they’re not just focused on their own job, as before – they try to cooperate more because they believe that, working together, we can end this issue.”

The crucial contribution that the Learning Community team offers is support for services on the frontline, as Sam Ol says:

“Even though I work in the LC which is not directly benefitting the client, I serve in an indirect way, I can still be a part of it. With members who are working directly with survivors. This really inspires me to keep on going.”

Want to read more about the work of our different teams here at Chab Dai? Catch our interview with the Jeut Nung Dai team here, or take a look at our main website for more information.

Coordinating our efforts against forced marriage in China

Every year, many Cambodian women are being sold a dream. It’s a dream of a better life in China: a rich husband, a comfortable office job, a world away from their provincial, and often poor, villages. In reality, brokers are working on both sides of the border to sell these women into marriages they find are far below their expectations, and into a life in rural China strikingly similar to the one they were trying to escape.

This issue is now being reported in the mainstream and international news, but Chab Dai have been dealing with cases such as these since early 2014. So how can we respond effectively to this growing problem?

A market for marriage

Reports blame China’s one-child policy for reducing the number of women in the country and creating a ‘market’ for men seeking a bride from overseas, wherein men often pay huge sums for a Cambodian wife. Across the border, prospective brides are approached by locals, even people they know and trust and are told that the money will go to their family.

But after the deal is done, the families rarely see the amount they were promised, and the women often end up trapped in an abusive marriage, in a foreign country where they may speak little of the native tongue. Passports are usually taken from them, posing a problem in itself, since train travel in China – a potential means of escape - requires valid ID.

How we help

Cases usually reach Chab Dai’s Case Support team via our helpline number, either from the women, the Cambodian Embassy in China or referrals from our partners. Chab Dai have managed to help repatriate 13 women from China, but coordination remains a problem. Even if the women make it to the Cambodian Embassy, they can end up stranded there for months or placed in a government shelter under sometimes unliveable conditions.

On a visit to China, Justice and Client Care Senior Manager Chan Saron commented:

“What we need is someone working on the ground, directly with the survivors. There is a gap for a coordinating organization between the survivors, the local Chinese authority, Cambodian embassy in China and government institutions and NGOs in Cambodia.”

Commitment to collaboration

Aware that this is an issue experienced by many of our partners and stakeholders, Chab Dai recently held a Round Table discussion aimed at sharing information and forming a collaborative response. World Vision, AIM, IOM and others were at the table with us, relating lessons learned and suggestions for the future.

We discussed the need for a centralised, Chinese hotline number that women can more easily access and shared ways we can better advise women on their escape routes, including how to get back their passports for the train journey, or travelling by alternate transport.

Together, we identified the most common areas these women usually come from, suggesting we could geographically target our prevention programmes to ensure key communities are informed about this issue.

The meeting closed with a series of positive action points, including working towards an MOU with the relevant government departments, as well as tackling the lack of funding by creating a basket fund between NGOs.

But the most important take-away was an ongoing commitment to collaboration. Only an organised effort between NGOs, the government and other key institutions will effectively handle, resolve and even prevent these cases from happening. Let’s hope the next few months and years will see those gaps on the ground in China filled, a more proactive and cohesive response from both sides of the border and more Cambodian women returned home safely.

Key source: ‘Trafficked for Marriage to China’ Case Support Project report, by Kristina Novak.

Images by Stephen Durham and Brad Collis, used under Creative Commons licence.

Collaborating with corporates in the fight against trafficking

The private sector as partners by Helen Sworn

Knowing our areas of core competency and influence have always been a foundational ethos and practice for us at Chab Dai. A decade ago when Chab Dai was set up as a coalition, there were few partners in the movement outside the NGO sector. 

However, during these years we have seen a new generation of stakeholders who previously had only been seen as the problem and not part of the solution. These partners are from the business sector and, although there is still a level of suspicion between the NGOs and businesses, there is also a growing collaboration emerging internationally.

Businesses supporting human rights

Monique Villa

This was evident at the recent Thomson Reuters Trust Forum conference in Hong Kong, which I was privileged to attend. Among the 200 attendees, more than 70% were corporate businesses - law firms, the banking industry, PR and communications companies, as well as government figures and journalists who are, at last, interested in reporting on the more complex, emerging and in-depth issues beyond the sensationalized media.

During the conference, these corporate representatives were put on the spot by the Thomson Reuters CEO, Monique Villa who had some innovative grassroots organisations present their needs. There ensued an open floor request for pledges of support from the attendees. I was fascinated and encouraged to see lawyers, design companies and others publicly commit their expertise to these causes. 

Stopping exploitation with multi-sector collaboration

Andrew Forrest

One of the keynote speakers was Andrew Forrest, an Australian mining magnate who stepped back from his corporate position four years ago to dedicate his time, energy and significant resources and influence to the anti slavery cause.  An interesting observation was how he started with his own corporation, carrying out a supply chain audit and calling out others to do the same.

Of course, we still have a long way to go but I think that we are beginning to take hold of the vision and need for multi-sector collaboration, which is the only way we will ever see an end to the exploitation of human lives.

Hong Kong image by Shizhao, used under Creative Comms licence. Other images courtesy of © Thomson Reuters.

Christa Sharpe: '10 years of remembrance, thankfulness & celebration'

Cambodia is fortunate to have one of the most effective, unifying, impactful anti-trafficking and sexual abuse coalitions in the world – the Chab Dai Coalition. Well, I would say Chab Dai is the most effective, but I’m biased! International Justice Mission Cambodia (IJM) has been fortunate to be one of the original members of Chab Dai since its founding in 2005. I can’t imagine the anti-trafficking movement in Cambodia without Chab Dai.  Well, to be accurate, I was in Cambodia before Chab Dai existed, so I actually knew what the movement was like without Chab Dai, which increases my joy even more as we celebrate their 10-year anniversary.

The value of looking back

As member agencies with powerful missions, facing urgent needs and engaging with unimaginable violence, we often find ourselves primarily looking forward and focusing on the pain of this world. But, God is clear that we are also to live and serve in the disciplines of remembrance, thankfulness and celebration.

Remembering the faithfulness, gifts, miracles and progress from the past fuels us with hope in the midst of our current battles and circumstances. Practicing thankfulness brings peace and allows us to value others around us. When we celebrate the victories – large and small – we infuse ourselves and our teams with deep joy - a joy that would be impossible had we only focused on the deep pain and need around us.  

Human trafficking in Cambodia: 10 years ago

I remember what Cambodia was like the year Chab Dai Coalition started. I remember the thousands of children being openly prostituted in brothels that lined the streets of communities across the nation while traffickers, pimps and business owners were raking in money. I remember criminals and abusers who did not know the law, or what was right or wrong under the law. I remember dozens of pedophiles walking the streets holding hands with the children they planned to abuse, with no fear of being confronted or arrested.

I remember a decimated public justice system filled with officials who had almost no training to do their jobs, felt ineffective to stop crime, were not yet leading the anti-trafficking movement, and were sometimes even feared by the very people who needed them the most. I remember a citizenry who did not trust that their justice system could work for them, did not see the media advocating for their protection, and did not know the law or their rights under the law.

I remember a private aftercare system that was small, weak, uncoordinated, with almost no best practice procedures in place and extremely low survivor restoration rates. I remember NGOs who were not unified, not sharing or learning with one another, but were desperate for support.

The impact of coalition

I am thankful that the founders of Chab Dai saw the reality of violence and dysfunction, but had the vision to see what might be possible if they brought together like-minded organizations to provide shared learning, equipping, guidance and best practice models.

I am thankful that Chab Dai created a forum for us to learn from, share with, challenge, and encourage one another. I am thankful that this collaborative learning environment has raised private aftercare’s quality of service and protection to trafficking and sexual abuse survivors throughout the nation.

I am thankful for healthy accountability, that we, as members, value and embrace in order to be more competent, ethical, transparent, research-based and effective in our work. I am thankful for Chab Dai’s innovation and vision to bring unity to the movement in Cambodia and around the world through the Global Learning Community and the Freedom Collaborative. I am thankful that Chab Dai fills in vital gaps through their important research, hotline, community education, and working together with the government.

A time to celebrate

I celebrate all the miracles that have happened in Cambodia over the past decade. I celebrate that tens of thousands of Cambodian and Vietnamese citizens have been educated, trained, and empowered, and now courageously identify trafficking and abuse, report it, prevent it, and are growing in their trust that their public justice system will respond to their cries for help.

I celebrate the hundreds of police officers, social workers, court officials and community leaders who have been trained, equipped, and now confidently lead the fight against trafficking. I celebrate the new laws, policies and procedures that have led to greater accountability, government leadership and effectiveness. 

I celebrate that the combined efforts of the public justice system, community education, prevention programs and aftercare services have led to a decrease in prevalence of the commercial sexual exploitation of minors in the three provinces with the highest markets - from 15-30% of total sex workers in the early 2000s, down to around 2% today. And, the most significant decrease is the rate of young minors aged 15 and under in commercial prostitution - down to under .1%. Chab Dai members have been a part of bringing about all this change and progress, along with our government leaders and partners.

The impossible is possible

What seemed impossible 10 years ago has become possible. We can look back and see more progress, more miracles, and more lives restored than we imagined. When we choose to remember what was, we can see more clearly what is, which gives us hope for what can be.

We are all working to maintain and deepen the progress made in the fight against sex trafficking. We are just starting to grow the movement to end labor and marriage trafficking.  And sexual abuse and domestic violence are still at epidemic rates in Cambodia. But what we have all seen is that justice for the poor is possible.  

What has already been achieved in the fight against sex trafficking can happen – and at even faster rates – in the battles that lay before us, because lessons have been learned, the systems are stronger and the government is leading the way. And, as we have done for the past 10 years, we will do this together. In shared learning. In unity. In accountability. In coalition.

Seek the Lord and His strength; seek his presence continually. Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles… Psalm 105:4-5a

What do you remember as you think back over the past 10 years?  What are you thankful for?  What do you celebrate?

Thanks to Christa for writing this guest post. You can find the latest news on IJM projects in Cambodia and more about the organisation as a whole, over on their main website, www.ijm.org.

'Hands' image property of Chab Dai. All other images provided by IJM. 

The Chab Dai Charter goes online!

This week saw the official launch of our new Charter online database at the Chab Dai Charter feedback meeting here in Phnom Penh. Member organisations travelled from as far as Siem Reap and Battambang to show their continuing commitment to excellence, through the Charter’s set of professional standards in combating human trafficking and abuse. With this in mind, we’ve put together a short guide on everything to do with the Charter, how it works and how it can benefit organisations.

What is the Chab Dai Charter?

Chab Dai created the Charter in 2011 in order to give our members and ourselves a common set of 15 principles to work towards, grouped under four core values: Protection, Participation, Transparency and Collaboration.

Moreover, the Charter is designed as a practical tool, containing specific action points in order to achieve these principles. By self-evaluating on everything from encouraging creative thinking at work to being mindful of inclusion, we can continue to raise our standards as a coalition.

How is the Charter implemented?

The practical side of the Charter was actually created using feedback from our members. Charter-Doorsteps Team visit member organisations and guide the staff through a participatory process of self-evaluation, with each staff member scoring criteria based on how they think the organisation is doing. These could be provision of specific trainings, procedural points, like how to raise an issue about a senior member of staff or PTSD staff care for those dealing with trauma in their day-to-day jobs.

A report with Improvement Action Plans (IAPs) is then produced, based on the collected scores, which the organisation can use to identify strengths and implement changes where needed. Learning grants are also given to selected organisations that may need extra resources to complete the process and staff are also encouraged to share lessons learned at our training events.

The Charter database

The new database, designed by Rob Perrett, allows Charter members to record and update their information and assessments instantly online. It also enables NGOs to produce data for use in donor reports, with information already packaged into charts and recommendations, saving a lot of staff time.

What our members think

Reuk Saray of WEC and Bridge of Hope project told us about his experience of the Charter implementation:

“When I first started with WEC, no one introduced me to the Child Protection Policy – I just signed without knowing anything about it. Now, we understand the importance of what it is and how we need to protect children.”

Destiny Rescue’s Kimbra Smith also had lots of positive things to say about the Charter.

“Just spending time with other members, our staff benefit from hearing about other’s strengths and weaknesses. Once they have connected with other staff, they feel comfortable contacting them to ask questions or for resources. They then feel like they can hold their head up high and be proud of their development.”

The Charter around the globe

The Charter has proved so effective that it’s been used as a model for our partners in places as diverse as Costa Rica, Fiji, Indonesia and Thailand, with one team saying it was ‘the most practical tool for assessment they had ever used.’

The Charter has made a huge difference not only to our members but to us as well - Chab Dai was the first organisation to go through Charter process. To us, it means always striving for best practice when it comes to supporting survivors of abuse in all its forms, and doing this together as a coalition.

As one member said: “It’s not realistic that organisations can be perfect in every way, so we are very positive about the Charter – we show other members our IAPs to show them that we need to improve too!”

10 years of Chab Dai – from Facilitator to National Director

Continuing our series spotlighting individuals who’ve helped the organisation grow in the last 10 years, this week we talk to National Director and long-time staff member, Ros Yeng…

Our story began back in 2005, and Ros Yeng was one of just three members of staff at the time, sharing an office with World Hope International (we now have a workforce of more than 40 at our independent offices in Phnom Penh!). Having worked as a pastor and counsellor prior to Chab Dai, Yeng was initially hired as a Facilitator and back then his role was varied, planting the first seeds of Chab Dai’s prevention programmes out in the provinces of Cambodia…

The growth of human trafficking prevention

“When I started, I knew some friends working in the church who didn't know how to help with the human trafficking issue - I went to visit many pastors in Battambang, and only two of them knew about the issue.

These pastors, they worked on Sunday at the church but Monday to Friday, they had other jobs, working on their own business as a tuktuk driver or a farmer. So they would sometimes take some boys from the field, into the town to meet foreigners in a hotel and the foreigners gave them a lot of money.

They didn't understand – perhaps they expected that the foreigners love the kids, gave them some food or had a gift for the boys, something like that. This is why I started to do prevention in those times.”

The prevention project Yeng first started was called the Church and Community programme, originally aimed at preventing child trafficking by empowering community leaders to educate their communities, to intervene with suspected cases of abuse like the above and to be able to support survivors. Chab Dai now run three more comprehensive human trafficking prevention programs that have grown from this - Safe Community, Ethnic Community and Community Heroes - Yeng sees these as the ‘fruit’ of his early successes. 

Networking at a National Level

So how about his role now?

“Chab Dai is quite changed from the beginning – the first four, five years, I was working on coalition-building, prevention, everything. Then in 2010, Helen [International Director and Founder] handed the leadership of Chab Dai Cambodia over to me.

“Now I work on organisation development, spending time with the Steering Committee, to help support and guide the direction in which Chab Dai is going. It's important that I work with the government as well – with the National Committee to Lead the Suppression of Human Trafficking, Smuggling, Labour Exploitation and Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children.”

Yeng’s work has progressed from local to national level in the last decade, and a large part of his current position involves meeting with and educating the Cambodian government to promote the cause of anti human trafficking.

“We have built up a relationship from 2009 until now, so we have gained the trust from the government  – they know we are focused on stopping human trafficking.”

After a whole decade working at Chab Dai, Yeng believes he is fulfilling God's plan for him:

“We have a passion to help the children, to help and improve the local people. I believe that through Chab Dai, we are showing God's love to bring justice and empowerment to communities.'

If you want to hear more about Yeng's work, he will be speaking at the Justice Conference Asia later this month (April 30 - May 2). Leave us a comment below or tweet us your thoughts @chabdai using the hashtag #10yearsofChabDai.

Thoughts from Chab Dai members

2015 is a special year for us, so we wanted to use this opportunity to ask some of our member organisations how they feel about being a part of the Chab Dai coalition, and how collaboration with NGOs here in Cambodia has helped them in their area of focus.

Some of our members work in legal support, some in psycho-social aftercare, others are human trafficking prevention organisations, working to raise awareness of the issue. All are joined by a common bond of Christian fellowship and share in our vision to connect, generate and share knowledge, advocate for change and bring an end to human trafficking and abuse.

Here are just a few of their thoughts…

Supporting grassroots organisations

One thing that Chab Dai champions is providing small-scale NGOs with the necessary training and capacity to grow. Jesse from foster care organisation, Children in Families (one of our early members), explains their experience of our programs:

 'Children in Families is a local organisation that focuses on placing orphans and vulnerable children in loving local families in Cambodia. We are a small organisation with a developing staff that is taking on a major problem in the country. For several years Chab Dai has been invaluable in providing training and support for the staff of our organisation. We have benefited from trainings focused on developing the internal structure of organisation, social work trainings, and general trainings oriented towards building our staff. There have been many challenges in creating and growing this small non-profit in context of Cambodia, and Chab Dai has helped us to navigate many of these hurdles.’

 The power of collaboration

AusCam Freedom Project is dedicated to empowering those affected by abuse and educating the wider community in order to prevent human trafficking, violence against women and harmful cultural attitudes. Here, Julie Dowse, Founder & Director explains what membership of Chab Dai has meant for AusCam:

“Cambodia is a country with a large number of NGO’s - both local and international - with a mission to fight the trafficking and exploitation of men, women and children. My early experiences in Cambodia showed me that many organisations were operating as lone rangers with limited partnerships and collaborative work. I soon learnt that the primary motives of this were due to the ‘fight for the donor dollar’ which I found very disturbing. I was very relieved when I found out about the coalition formed at Chab Dai to provide a platform for a unified approach to our work and to enable partnerships to develop, forums to discuss the challenges in particular areas of work, training, research, accountability and conferences. I have found all of these opportunities incredibly important in the running of our organisation, including the support needed for our local staff.”

Education Advisor at Heart of Hope, Colleen Briggs also strongly believes in connectivity to succeed in the anti-trafficking movement. Ministering to exploited and at-risk children for 7 years, she told us:

“I sincerely believe that had God not connected us to Chab Dai we would not have been able to serve these children.  We would not have known how to teach the children about the dangers of trafficking nor would we have been able to make the connections to other NGOs that have been so vital to us.  In one case we were connected with a legal aid NGO who helped us work with the police and saw an arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of a perpetrator in the community. The children in the community now have a school and the families have a place to come to when they need a referral or assistance.  Chab Dai has been a valuable guide and partner in most aspects of our program.”

To find out more about becoming a Chab Dai member, follow the link to our main website for more information and to read about our current projects.

Celebrating a Community of More Than 1,000 Advocates! (Join Today)

The Freedom Collaborative and Freedom Registry Story

The vision of this project is to see the global anti-trafficking movement increase its capacity to collaborate, develop inter-country and cross-border referral mechanisms and learn from one another on evidence-based practices and emerging issues.

Evidenced-based practice was drawn from many years of implementing a grassroots level coalition in Cambodia working together to end trafficking and slavery.

Chab Dai’s Freedom Registry project began in 2009. While contextualizing the organization’s ethos and vision in the development of Chab Dai USA, we carried out research among the anti-trafficking movement on the gaps that existed.

The result was a need for a registry with vetted organisations  that could be used as a mapping tool and searchable referral mechanism.

This was initially piloted in 2011 among  U.S. stakeholders, and subsequently launched to the public in March 2012.

Global Expansion

In December 2013,  the full platform, including the Freedom Registry, was launched internationally and integrated with the additional tools of Freedom Library, Freedom News and Freedom Dialogues as the all-encompassing Freedom Collaborative.

As of today, this is how the community of anti-trafficking and anti-slavery movement are using the platform:

Community:

1,007 Registered Individual Users from

135 Countries  who have registered

926 Organisations from diverse program focus within the 4 P's

Protection: 574

Prevention:399

Partnership:137

Prosecution: 42

Spending 2,775 total hours on the platform

Library:

2,087 User-added studies, reports, journal articles, laws, articles, books and videos. from

245 Countries and territories, in

29 Languages

Expanding into the Future

After years of working with our partners, building grassroots organisations and developing Freedom Collaborative, we still see so much potential for growth that will see the platform expand from its current form into an interactive, macro-level tool that helps us address human trafficking and slavery from a multi-sectoral perspective – working not only in victim referral mechanisms but also developing tools to suppress the environment that allows and enables slavery to flourish in this world.

Watch this space…

Telling Better Stories: Where "Compassion Campaigns" Fail

Have you ever faced the challenge of summarizing a very complex issue in a succinct yet engaging manner? I have. When I was visiting home recently, I was asked about my work in counter-trafficking and what is it that I do.  I always appreciate these moments and try to share information on human trafficking and Chab Dai's work in raising the standards of care for vulnerable people and building collaboration. I can think of many examples, such as our support team working on cases of forced marriage in China, the labor cases on Thai fishing boats or the thousands of villagers and community leaders in Cambodia that are now educated on safe migration, human trafficking and/or parenting skills. But these opportunities are also challenging as I try to describe what I've been working on for the past couple of years; a process that has been so challenging and precious that it hard to put into words, let alone a 30 second response.

I found it hard to share these stories in a way that sums up the complexity of these issues in a dignified and non-sensationalist manner. And the more I talk with my peers and colleagues about the reasons for this struggle, the more I realize that others in the field are facing the same challenges. Rachel Kurzyp, the Communications Director at WhyDev, wrote in her blog post, NGOs Need to Tell Better Stories, "When I re-tell these stories and others, I feel conflicted. I want the individuals within the stories to be respected and have dignity. I don’t want them to be viewed as helpless and weak. I try to make sense of their situation the best way I can. But I know the supporters and donors don’t like to read stories without happy endings or pieces that question the world’s inequality and their part in it."

There is almost always an expectation to hear an emotionally charged story with a dramatic rescue and heroic finish. A call to action usually comes through heart-wrenching images such as a powerless woman in a prison cell or a child picking up rubbish at a garbage dump. However, such stories often fall into a narrative of saviors and victims, glorifying images of rescuers during brothel raids while other seemingly more mundane, but equally important, actions go unnoticed. This kind of "compassion" marketing oversimplifies and dilutes the stories of individuals who live in these very complex sets of circumstances.

A proven risk of these "compassion" marketing campaigns is that they end up hurting the very people they set out to help. Many of the people we see in the images and we hear telling their stories end up being re-traumatized from the constant re-living of their experiences or through the stigma they face in their communities if their stories leak out. Another risk of such marketing is that once donors get tired of the same story, they move on to a new one, resulting in a loss of funding that forces projects and cases to close down. 

Many quick-fix campaigns lack a more holistic and long-term solution. They may even misidentify the underlining problems. Even though donations to these programs are given in good faith, the solutions they support in the long run might be creating more dependency rather than true empowerment.

And at the end of the day, the individuals and communities we advocate with and for are the ones who will ultimately either benefit or be deprived.

Still, there are good examples of dignified story-telling and community engagement. Contrary to the scenarios unpacked above, there are organizations and individuals who are conscious of the complexities of working alongside those who are vulnerable. More often than not, these programs run quietly and steadily with the dedication of a team of committed staff and volunteers. I have friends and colleagues who work very hard to bring change to their communities. This gives me hope. Hope that there are good initiatives to be part of with those that are informed by grassroots strategies and can galvanize a community of well-informed people who are committed to a cause that is sustainable, and one that promotes long term engagement and commitment to maintaining the dignity of the very population they serve.

Does Collaboration Help?: Asking the Hard Questions

At Chab Dai we have been facilitating collaboration and coordination for years, but is that truly enough? Are we really making a difference?

John Kania and Mark Kramer wrote an article discussing collective impact, a difference made through broad cross-sector coordination, which is exactly what Chab Dai aims for. In this paper they cover three case studies: an education initiative, a conservation project and an effort to reduce childhood obesity, all of these are seen as astounding collaborative successes. They found five commonalities between the efforts, all of which are interesting and pretty simple:

1. Common Agenda

The Millennium Development
Goals, do we need these for
human trafficking? 

2. Shared Measurement System
3. Mutually Reinforcing Activities
4. Continuous Communication
5. A Backbone Support Organization

Now let's assess if Chab Dai, as a coalition, has these characteristics.

1. Common Agenda: Yes! In the most general sense, we are committed to addressing issues of abuse, exploitation and trafficking by working together and providing opportunities for learning.

2. Shared Measurement System: We've developed Chab Dai Charter and Freedom Registry, both of which measure organizational capacity across organizations – Charter through a shared assessment tool and Freedom Registry through documentation of national good practices.

What about shared impact measurement? These are a start, but globally I'd advocate for some type of Millennium Development Goals system for trafficking to get everyone on the same page for at least the first 3 of these 5 aspects. An ambitious goal, but certainly possible.

3. Mutually Reinforcing Activities: Absolutely; coordination and referrals are our specialty.

4. Continuous Communication: In Cambodian culture, collectivism thrives in a formal and informal sense. We achieve this not only through forums, member meetings and emails, but it's the very core of our coalition and Freedom Collaborative project.

5. Backbone Support Organization: We've actually been expanding more and more from coordination support into capacity-building support for our local Khmer member organizations. Freedom Collaborative aims to be a backbone tool for the global movement.

Kevin Bales says only .0043 percent of the global population is affected by human trafficking. That's .0043 percent too much, but it does make the problem seem surmountable. This is something we can eradicate. If, then, we are indeed using a model that is proven to work, why are we still addressing trafficking? Can we move on to another issue?

Well let's look back at those case studies. The education initiative was able to show success in 34 of 53 indicators, which is great but still only a 64% percent success rate. An education initiative, perhaps shouldn't see a D grade as success.  

The conservation project was able to protect and restore 1,000 acres and 27 species are now thriving. However, this took 15 years and included perhaps one of the most powerful partners around, the U.S. Navy's 1,000 acres is also a tiny fraction of the millions of acres of land under threat around the world.

The childhood obesity reduction effort was able, over it's first year, to reduce "approximately one pound of weight gain over 8 months for an 8-year-old child." The effort itself said this result "may seem small."

Now, the conclusion to draw from this is not that collaboration isn't effective or that these case studies are not as successful as they're made out to be. The case studies, and please check them out for yourself, are absolutely impressive and are certainly much more effective than the sum of each stakeholder working independently.

The lesson here is that the work of collaboration addressing any issue is incredibly difficult, and the Chab Dai Coalition is actually doing quite well and more importantly collaboration can make a difference if it's done right. For us, collaboration is difficult in general, which is further compounded by the complexity of trafficking, which is then compounded even further by a Cambodian context with present corruption and lack of resources.

Going up against this, Chab Dai is not just doing well, we are doing really well. Chab Dai, as a previous blog post has mentioned, is a model for countries that are much more developed and are less corrupt than the Kingdom of Wonder, including, from our experience, countries like the U.S. and Canada. If you want further evidence, please check the December 2012 evaluation of our coalition. 

We have seen tremendous growth in our collaborative efforts with other organizations and have witnessed changed lives; empowered women, men and children; educated responses; sustainable opportunities and freedom for thousands. And it has taken the collaboration of NGOs, professionals, practitioners, students, volunteers, the Khmer community and international efforts to get us here. We hope to see more people engage in collective impact in this effort to fight human trafficking.