An official of the International Police (Interpol) visited the province last week to coordinate with local officials on its project aimed at preventing sexual predators from working in the aid sector.
Daniel Coelho, accompanied by Sam Weng Kei Celajes and Pamela Herminado, paid a courtesy visit on Governor Joseph Cua last Feb. 28, 2023 to discuss Project Soteria.
Soteria, derived from the Greek word for “Goddess of Protection,” is a project that aims to prevent perpetrators of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment from working in the aid sector.
The team visited local police stations with active Women and Children Protection Desks (WCPD) as part of their field mission to engage with law enforcement, local authorities and the aid sector.
The collaboration, Coelho explained, aims to improve the country’s prevention and response to sexual exploitation.
With the Interpol team was PLt. Col. Cecilia R. Zuñiga who joined the discussion and emphasized that there is enough workforce and proper information dissemination about sexual abuse and exploitation.
However, she underscored the lack of proper shelter facilities in Catanduanes for victims of sexual abuse as they are endorsed to the Bicol mainland.
During the visit, Coelho expressed interest in observing the provincial government’s response to the calamities.
He said the visit signifies the continuous efforts of Interpol to promote safety and protection globally, particularly in vulnerable communities.
Funded with EUR 9.3 million by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Soteria project started in May 2021 and will end on May 2025.
According to Interpol, aid organizations employ highly mobile international and national staff to work in fragile environments, delivering development and humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.
The globalized nature of humanitarian and development work, combined with the urgency with which staff often need to be recruited and deployed, presents challenges for aid organizations in conducting thorough screening of staff both before and after their hiring, it said.
Perpetrators of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) have exploited positions in the aid sector to harm the very people they are meant to protect and assist, the organization stated.
Without full awareness, good detection mechanisms, effective reporting and practical communication channels for the aid community, it pointed out that sexual offenders can continue working and moving within the sector, putting children and vulnerable adults at risk.
Project Soteria is bringing law enforcement and aid sector organizations large and small together to prevent sexual offenders from using their positions to access and offend against children and vulnerable adults, and strengthen the capacity of law enforcement to investigate, prosecute and arrest those who abuse aid recipients.
While Project Soteria predominantly focuses on prevention, it also aims to ensure that the strongest mechanisms for detecting, investigating and reporting cases of SEAH are in place, Interpol added.
The project has already enlisted the support of more than 20 prominent aid organizations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.