Building Back Better SUMMARY (Down to Zero; BBB parent)
The Down to Zero (DtZ) Building Back Better programme is carried out in 12 countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia. The goal is to ensure that children and youth are better protected when they are at risk or a victim of sexual exploitation, during and in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Plan International Netherlands supports this programme in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Nepal and the Philippines from April 2021 through March 2022. The DtZ alliance consists of Terre des Hommes, Plan International, Defence for Children-ECPAT, Free a Girl and ICCO (part of Cordaid). Together we will protect children, help them rehabilitate and reduce their vulnerability to SEC (Sexual Exploitation of Children). We will enable them to advocate for continued SEC prevention and response. We will encourage parents, caregivers and community leaders to provide a protective shield. We will also work with child protection system actors, governments and the private sector. This activity forms part of the Building Back Better (BBB)  in times of Covid-19, Fighting SEC on the Rise programme. The programme will work in 12 countries in Latin America and South and South East Asia: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, and the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The selected countries have particular high risks of SEC as well as compromised capacity of the child protection system. They are highly affected by the Covid-19 related trends, with the impact of travel and tourism being an integral part of their context. The programme will also address cross-border SEC such as along the Colombia Peru, Brazil-Bolivia-Peru and India-Nepal-Bangladesh borders. In the BBB  Programme the overall goal is to ensure that children and youth are better protected when at risk or victim  of sexual exploitation in times of crisis, such as currently with Covid-19. This will be achieved through five (5) outcomes:
1.	Children (in particular victims and those at risk of SEC) are able to access specialised services that protect them, help them rehabilitate, reintegrate and reduce their vulnerability to SEC in the context of Covid-19.
2.	Children and youth are able to advocate for continued SEC prevention and response in the context of Covid-19.
3.	Parents, caregivers, and community leaders are strengthened to provide a protective shield around children against SEC, in the context of Covid-19.
4.	Actors in the Child Protection System are strengthened in multi-stakeholder settings to prevent and advocate for protection from SEC, in the context of Covid-19.
5.	Intergovernmental bodies at regional and international level, governments and the private sector prioritize SEC within the wider child protection agenda in building back better during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It contributes to a functional, inclusive, gender and age responsive Child Protection System. More efficient and effective services will be delivered by promoting coordination and networking and catalyzing joint actions between actors working on child protection and violence against children (including health care, law enforcement and judiciary, and education). The programme will build and expand on the Alliance’s collective achievements to date, scaling up the 2016-2020 Down to Zero (DtZ) programme and being complementary to the 2020-2021 Voice for Change (VfC) programme38. This will allow the Alliance and its partners to effectively address SEC in the rapidly evolving context during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Building Back Better programme in Nepal and the Philippines also builds on the Girls Advocacy programme. In the GA programme, capacity of CSOs has been built to address harmful practices and youth have been supported to become active agents of change and youth advocates. 

Plan International Nepal and the Philippines join the Down to Zero alliance as new members and bring to the country teams a rich experience of working with schools, children and youth, local communities, government at local and national level, CSO networks, internet service providers and other service providers.  

Plan in the Dominican Republic has participated in all previous DtZ programming and Brazil participated in DtZ 1 but not in Voice for Change. The key target group (and final beneficiaries) of the programme are girls and boys up to 18 years old, who are victims and survivors and those at risk of SEC. We will mostly work with them through children and youth groups. The programme aims to contribute to a fully functional, well funded, inclusive, and gender and age responsive Child Protection System (see Text Box). Using a rights based approach together with a systems approach, the Alliance will work with key actors to develop and implement strong and sustainable national Child Protection Systems (CPS), which will include coordination between formal and informal structures. More efficient and effective services will be delivered by taking a broad perspective, promoting coordination and networking and 
catalyzing joint actions between actors working on child protection and violence against children (including health care, law enforcement and judiciary, and education).

The Alliance sees capacity building as a key intervention strategy and achieves this in multiple ways. We continue to build the capacity of our implementing partners on e.g. gender (including implementation toolkit boys and SEC), child safeguarding and adaptive programming. We are strengthening the capacity and role of CSO’s, e.g. in influencing and holding duty bearers accountable, monitoring the implementation of child protection policies and gender responsive SEC response services. We are strengthening the capacity of local government actors to budget and implement policies in a gender responsive and inclusive way. We are strengthening the environment of children by building the capacity of families to provide care and protection. We are supporting communities to work together to protect children through community based child protection mechanisms. We are empowering children and youth to take on an active role in their own protection, strengthening their advocacy skills and peer-to-peer work. Lobbying & Advocacy is built into the programme at all levels, focusing on the urgency of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and building on the L&A achievements of 2016-2020. Where safely and meaningfully possible, children and youth collaborate with partners in advocacy, or even lead advocacy themselves. Together with, or led by our local partners, we aim to influence stakeholders at various levels. 

The programme will mobilize and influence parents, schools, community leaders and service providers to ignore this role in SEC prevention and response, including reintegration of victims and promotion of community based CPS. The programme will influence governments including LEAs and private sector actors through multi-stakeholder collaborations to jointly prevent and respond to SEC. We will influence regional and international intergovernmental bodies to prioritize the issue of SEC. We will bring local perspectives to the regional and international stage, and follow up on international and regional developments in-country. Capacity strengthening: The programme strengthens CPS (at national and community levels) to deliver positive lasting change for children at risk or victims of SEC and their families, beyond the programme’s lifetime. Strengthening the agency of children, parents and community child protection committees will last beyond the programme as well. 

Policy and practice change: The programme works towards institutional monitoring, referral and coordination mechanisms across stakeholders, e.g. by developing National Action Plans to which partners commit. It further aims for policy change and implementation. Businesses adhering to The Code will do so beyond the duration of the programme. 

Social change: The programme contributes to dismantling the culture of silence and impunity surrounding SEC and promotes attitude change among communities and stakeholders in support of zero tolerance for SEC. Instilling new social norms around preventing and eradicating SEC, including deeply entrenched taboos around boys and SEC, will create an environment in which children, their families and communities oppose to and stand up against SEC.