Voice for Change Dominican Republic SUMMARY
Lessons from the Down to Zero (DtZ) programme in the Dominican Republic (2016-2020) show a need to expand and deepen the approach to strengthen child protection systems. This ensures successful prevention of and response to the sexual exploitation of children. Our current DtZ programme shows that working with youth as beneficiaries of protection systems and as active contributors, is key. The Voice for Change programme responds to this need, strengthening lobby and advocacy skills of youth groups to hold duty bearers accountable and actively contribute to a child and gender sensitive protection system. Besides empowering youth, this programme also promotes capacity building and direct lobby and advocacy towards child protection actors to implement legislation and delivery of services. In the Dominican Republic, this particularly entails the focus on supporting authorities with the newly approved national protocol for CSEC (Commercial and Sexual Exploitation of Children) cases. The Dominican Republic is a tourist destination country known for its beautiful beaches and sea, but unfortunately this also represents a risk for children, especially girls, of being commercially and sexually exploited by travellers and tourists. Despite the lack of official data, CSEC is spread in the communities, due to the weak prevention and response from the child protection system in light of cultural norms that normalize violence. The country counts on a national legislative framework and policy to protect children from violence, but still lacks services and training for its personnel to provide an effective response to the cases identified in the communities. Input from children and young people to ensure the prevention of and response to CSEC, including the available services, are child and gender centered is largely absent: youth participation in the Dominican Republic is almost non-existent and challenging in an adult centered system. In addition to the lack of children and young people actively contributing to their protection systems, the government demonstrates a low political commitment and capacity to implement the child protection legislative framework at local level. Furthermore, the local and national elections this year may signify a change of staff in key positions within public institutions. These changes could slow down the advances in the political agenda for children’s rights. By using evidence from current programming, amplifying the voices of children and posing specific advocacy asks, it will pave the way for long term changes in the Child Protection System and a sense that children and youth are an active part of the Child Protection System rather than passive subjects of care. The first intervention area in this program focuses on: 

O 1) Child victims and children at risk of CSEC are empowered to speak out and play an active role in their own protection and those of their peers
To reach this goal, three intermediate steps are defined (mobilization, networking, building advocacy skills):
 1.1	Child victims and children at risk of CSEC with interest to contribute to lobby & advocacy are mobilised
1.2	Child victims and children at risk of CSEC with interest to contribute to lobby & advocacy are networked together for peer to peer learning and more powerful voice
1.3	Advocacy skills of children and youth networks strengthened to enable them to advocate for a child- and gender-sensitive protection system 

Next to youth empowerment, direct capacity building of and advocacy towards child protection actors is the second intervention area of this program,

(O2) Improving child protection systems through capacity building and direct lobby & advocacy

To reach this goal, three intermediate steps are defined 

2.1 Capacity-building of Governments, LEA and CSO's for transformation of Child Protection Systems generates changes and secures avenues for advocacy
2.2 Child victims and children at risk of CSEC engaged in lobby & advocacy to transform Child Protection Systems in their country
2.3 Supportive lobby & advocacy by the Alliance and its partners to transform Child Protection Systems













By using evidence from current programming, amplifying the voices of children and posing specific advocacy asks, it will pave the way for long term changes in the Child Protection System and a sense that children and youth are an active part of the Child Protection System rather than passive subjects of care. Participating in the advocacy at local and national level will increase the confidence of children and youth groups in continuing the advocacy work in their respective areas of residence. 

By equipping a young generation with the confidence, knowledge and skills to voice their concerns and demands related to the prevention and response to commercial and sexual exploitation of children and by ensuring that they have the support from their families and communities to do so, a powerful segment of society is empowered to take an active role in their own protection and that of their peers. An achievement which will inspire others to do the same and which instills in society the realisation that by listening to children, we can better understand and meet their needs. In the future they will be able to influence local government and local private sector on the child rights and child protection lens in their government and corporate considerations. This project builds on the DtZ Dominican Republic project (2016-2020) which targets children and youth, communities and CSOs, the government and the private sector to prevent and respond to CSEC. There are a number of factors that have led the DtZ team in the Dominican Republic to see a clear momentum for the proposed activities leading to the expected results described below.

First and foremost, the current DtZ program shows that engaging youth is key to building sustainable protection systems, which ensure successful prevention and response to sexual exploitation of children. However current programming is mostly involving children and youth through awareness raising on CSEC. Building skills of children and young people to actively contribute to the protection system has not been on the forefront of the programme. Th VfC program responds to this need. Empowering children through advocacy training will improve their capacity to participate and be heard within their families, schools and communities; this is relevant because the right to participation is mainly unrecognized in Dominican Republic and would contrast the patriarchal and adult-centered system that perpetuates GBV.

Another important factor is the political situation of the country: 
 In response to the low political commitment and capacity, as well as the upcoming elections, lobbying efforts need to be multiplied at local and national level both with current officials or newly elected officials to ensure advances in the political agenda for children’s rights. # Children at risk and victims of CSEC: 280
 # Government officials: 60 Activities for youth empowerment: 
L&A training of youth groups
Mobilize youth groups to mobilize for CSEC prevention
Developing action plans to present to authorities

Activities for capacity building and advocacy towards authorities
Training of child protection personnel
Organise consultations of youth networks to advocate with local authorities
Organise national forum 
Organise visits to authorities This program builds on the current DtZ program in the Dominican Republic in which child empowerment is already part of the intervention strategies.

Youth groups have started to design action plans for awareness raising of peers and local authorities. The VfC program enables these youth groups to take their action plans forward in a more structured manner and strengthen their advocacy skills to do lobby and advocacy at local and national level. It is also critical to create the conditions and capacities to ensure the sustainability and continuation of the current youth groups since members naturally reach adulthood and eventually end their engagement with the group. Youth in the northern region of the country (Puerto Plata, Cabarete and Sosua) have expressed the need for similar
interventions to be initiated. The programme will therefore replicate the approach of empowering youth to speak out and actively contribute to child protection systems in the northern part of the country.