Down to Zero (parent) SUMMARY 
The UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that in 2012 almost a million children were sexually exploited. The Down to Zero (DtZ) project is combatting this situation through preventative and protective measures that focus on actual child victims and on children who are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation. The project aims to empower young girls and boys, create safer communities, assist in law enforcement and policy implementation and work together with the private sector, such as the tourist industry.

The project will be implemented between 2016 and 2020 by Plan International Netherlands, together with its partners Terre des Hommes (which is the lead partner), DCI-ECPAT, ICCO, Free a Girl and the Netherlands Embassies in the relevant countries. It will be carried out in 11 countries in Latin America and Asia. Plan will implement the necessary activities in Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Indonesia. The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) is a fundamental violation of children’s rights. It includes child prostitution, child pornography and child trafficking for sexual purposes. Many children lack the knowledge and/or the ability to speak out against or resist these forms of exploitation. Any objections they might have are ignored or not taken seriously by policy makers or the police, and often not even by their own parents. The communities in which these children live are not always safe for them. Their families are often unaware of the risks their children face, and in some cases they even encourage their children to enter child prostitution. Norms and values that tolerate violence against women are widespread and these are conspiring to make the victims feel ashamed. Furthermore, laws and policies are often not implemented or enforced, and this leads to large-scale impunity (the people who are guilty of this exploitation are going unpunished). In addition to all this, the private sector is not always aware of the effects it can have on CSEC and it could be underestimating its responsibility. The DtZ programme will address the consequences and root causes of CSEC, such as poverty, lack of education, gender imbalances and cultural norms and values that encourage such sexual exploitation. 

It will do so in four interconnected ways. Firstly, it will empower children. By means of child-led (online) campaigns and life-skills and vocational trainings, children will be encouraged to speak up and protect themselves if they feel in danger of being exploited. It will also offer them possible alternative sources of income. 

Secondly, by making them agents of change they will be strongly involved in mobilising parents, community and religious leaders, nurses and teachers to become allies in the struggle against CSEC. The active engagement of men and boys, including fathers, brothers and peers, as well as potential offenders, will be crucial in changing norms and values in communities. Furthermore, a well-functioning referral system connected to formal child-protection bodies will make communities safer for children. 

Thirdly, laws and policies to combat impunity must be implemented and enforced. By showing governments the scale of the problem through research data and by supporting the development of practical local action plans, government officials will be more willing to address the problem, and with sufficient budget. 

Lastly, the private sector will be encouraged to commit to zero-tolerance towards the sexual exploitation of children. The successful Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism will be further promoted and it will serve as an example for other industries. DtZ builds on the results obtained and the lessons learned from previous interventions carried out by the alliance partners. For Plan, the most important of these are: 
-	a project called “A Collective NO to Child Sex Tourism” in Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil (2011-2014), and implemented with DCI-ECPAT;
-	a CSEC project in Brazil (Pernambuco) and in the south-east region of the Dominican Republic (May 2015-June 2016), which was part of a larger programme implemented by DCI-ECPAT (lead), Terre des Hommes and Free a Girl in 25 countries.

In all these countries, local partners of DCI-ECPAT have been combatting child sex tourism and other forms of exploitation for many years. Plan and its local partners, such as Childhood Brazil and Caminante, have been active in this field in Brazil since 2011 and in the Dominican Republic since 2015.

In the context of this project, regions other than the ones mentioned in the previous two projects will be targeted. In Brazil, the project will focus on Bahia Sate and in the Dominican Republic the intervention will be extended to the north, east and south-west regions of the country. For Plan Indonesia, CSEC is a new thematic intervention. The end beneficiaries include the actual victims and children at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial purposes in the 11 countries. The main focus will be on the most vulnerable children under the age of 18, while some elements will also include young people up to the age of 25. A specifically targeted group will be the exploited children, particularly girls, of ethnic communities. Please refer to the country files Please refer to the country files