Strengthening Moldova’s Capacity to Address Child Online Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (COSESA) | INL19GR0060 EAMOLDOVA CHILDEXP 071519

Opportunity Information: Apply for INL19GR0060 EAMOLDOVA CHILDEXP 071519

The grant opportunity titled "Strengthening Moldova's Capacity to Address Child Online Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (COSESA)" is a U.S. Department of State initiative, managed through the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), intended to improve Moldova's ability to prevent, investigate, and prosecute online child sexual exploitation and abuse. The funding is offered as a discretionary grant under the law, justice, and legal services activity category (CFDA 19.705). The total amount available is up to USD 200,000, with the expectation of making one award. The opportunity was posted on July 15, 2019, with an original application deadline of September 16, 2019.

The project is framed as a response to several converging developments inside Moldova that have exposed gaps in the country’s current capacity to address COSESA effectively. A key driver is the increasing number of trafficking in persons (TIP) cases being reported and identified alongside online sexual exploitation and abuse of children, suggesting both a growing problem and improved detection that is outpacing the system’s ability to respond. The opportunity notes that Moldova’s national response to COSESA has been insufficient so far, indicating that existing tools, coordination mechanisms, specialized expertise, or operational practices are not yet adequate to deal with the scale and complexity of online-facilitated abuse.

Another major challenge highlighted is the lack of accessible, relevant, and practical information on COSESA available to Moldovan legal professionals. This includes the kinds of guidance prosecutors, investigators, judges, and other justice actors need in order to handle digital evidence, understand online offender behavior, recognize victimization patterns, and apply appropriate investigative and procedural steps in a way that holds up in court. Without shared reference materials and training tailored to COSESA, cases can fail due to weak evidence handling, misapplied legal standards, or uncertainty around investigative authorities and child-sensitive procedures.

The grant also responds to recent institutional reforms within the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), where responsibility for COSESA has been assigned to the PGO’s Anti-TIP Unit. This is important because it signals a shift toward formalizing accountability for COSESA within a specific institutional home, but it also creates immediate capacity needs: the unit must be equipped with the technical understanding, investigative coordination skills, and procedural know-how to manage online child exploitation matters that often involve cross-border platforms, encrypted communications, and sophisticated digital concealment tactics.

At the same time, Moldova has been pursuing legal initiatives aimed at combating sexual violence against women and girls and aligning national legislation with international standards, specifically those reflected in Council of Europe conventions. While these reforms are not exclusively about child online exploitation, they create an opportunity to harmonize approaches to sexual violence more broadly, strengthen rights-based and victim-centered procedures, and integrate international good practices that can also benefit child protection and criminal justice responses to COSESA. The opportunity situates COSESA capacity building within this broader reform trajectory, implying that the legal and policy environment is evolving and may be receptive to targeted improvements.

The description also points to a strong existing partnership among law enforcement, the judiciary, and civil society that has been developed to advance efforts against sexual violence against women and girls. That collaboration is presented as a foundation Moldova can build on for COSESA, since effective responses typically require multi-agency cooperation and trusted referral pathways, including victim identification and support services often provided by non-governmental organizations. In practice, leveraging these partnerships can improve reporting, strengthen child safeguarding, reduce retraumatization during investigations and court processes, and increase the likelihood that cases move successfully from detection to prosecution.

Finally, the opportunity emphasizes the need to strengthen law enforcement’s ability to investigate online child trafficking and to conduct special investigations in child pornography cases. This signals an intended focus on operational capacity, such as investigative techniques suitable for online environments, proactive and reactive investigative methods, use of specialized tools, intelligence and case coordination, and lawful handling of digital evidence. It also implies support for developing skills and procedures for complex investigations that may require undercover operations, controlled communications, cooperation with internet service providers or online platforms, and coordination with international counterparts when offenders, victims, or data are outside Moldova.

Overall, the COSESA grant is designed to provide a relatively focused, single-award investment to help Moldova close concrete capability gaps at a moment of rising case numbers and institutional change. Its core intent is to strengthen the justice sector’s practical readiness to address online child sexual exploitation and abuse, improve the knowledge base available to legal professionals, and reinforce investigative and prosecutorial effectiveness through better coordination, specialized skills, and alignment with relevant international standards.

• The Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics-Law Enforcement in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Strengthening Moldova’s Capacity to Address Child Online Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (COSESA)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.705.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 15, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 16, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for INL19GR0060 EAMOLDOVA CHILDEXP 071519

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: