The Down to Zero Alliance is a joint effort of Terre des Hommes Netherlands, Plan Netherlands, Defense of Children - ECPAT, Free a Girl and ICCO Cooperation, under the leadership of Terre des Hommes Netherlands. It aims to eradicate the commercial sexual exploitation of children in 10 countries. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a strategic partner of the Alliance and the donor of this program.
The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a phenomenon that affects 2 million children worldwide. Children are sexually exploited, in exchange for payment in cash or in kind to the child, but more often to a third party. These acts are illegal, degrading and threaten the physical and psychosocial well-being of children. In many cases, the victims are vulnerable girls: girls who come from broken homes, have faced domestic violence, abuse child, parental neglect, children who have dropped out of school and are pressured by peers or relatives. Commercial sexual exploitation of children is a complex problem with multiple drivers. Poverty, armed conflicts, cultural norms and values, modern communication technology, increasing mobility around the world, lack of information, lack of political will and corruption are factors that make that children are vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation and the impunity of their offenders. Ideally, all of these causes are addressed in the fight against commercial sexual exploitation of children.
The Down to Zero Alliance aims to eradicate the number of sexually exploited children in 10 countries in Asia and Latin America, through four strategic objectives:
The Down to Zero Alliance has identified four stakeholder groups that are key to achieving the goals:
Through this program, the Alliance is committed to making a meaningful and lasting contribution to Sustainable Development Goals 16.2 "End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children "and 5.2" Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls and adolescents in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other exploitation ". The five partners of the Alliance, the Ministry, more than 25 partners and stakeholders in the implementation will draw on each other's experiences, learn from each other's best practices and develop innovative approaches. This will allow organizations to act and react in changing contexts and address new phenomena of sexual exploitation. Learning between countries and the two regions (Asia and Latin America) will lead to more effective and sustainable approaches in the fight against commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Down to Zero Alliance is fighting the commercial sexual exploitation of children by:
Alliance members are committed to working side-by-side, sharing their knowledge and experiences, and constantly striving for maximum impact. Alliance members are committed to supporting and developing the capacity of their local partners, who will implement and maintain the program. They will empower key stakeholders in their fight against commercial sexual exploitation and complement their efforts where necessary. The Dutch embassies in the 10 countries will provide access to networks and resources. The Alliance will actively inform stakeholders, international agencies, Dutch embassies about the objectives and achievements of the program.
The duration of the program is 5 years, from January 2016 to December 2020. The total budget of the program is 15 million euros, over 5 years in 10 countries (and Bangladesh up to 2018). The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the donor of this program.
Down to Zero is being implemented in 10 countries in Asia and Latin America. Asia: India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand. Latin America: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru.
Youth Voices for Change is an initiative of the Down To Zero Alliance that seeks to prevent the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents by amplifying the voices of young leaders for change in Latin America and Asia.