Dedicated to keep children safe

The group is composed of 21 NGOs out of 93 associations accredited by the MoFEA. The 18th January 2017 is an historic and emotional day for ECPAT Luxembourg as the NGO signed its first cooperation framework [“Accord Cadre de Coopération” – (ACC)] with the MoFEA. The moment Mr. Victor Gillen, president of the NGO, signed the convention, a long and labour-intensive process within ECPAT Luxembourg came to an end. This convention is a credential for recognition of the NGO’s professional work done in the past and paves the way to a further institutional evolution of the association.

The signature of the ACC is a process that took one year for our operational team : Thomas and Hannah, together with their colleagues Fabienne, Boubacar and Halimatou in the regional office in Bamako, Mali, as well as Ashish, Neeva and Amrita in the regional office in Kathmandu, Nepal. During this process, they worked out the cooperation document according to the guidelines of the MoFEA. Apart from formal rights and administrative and financial obligations, which ECPAT Luxembourg now possesses towards the MoFEA, it is important to take a closer look to the cooperation results and objectives of the projects submitted by our NGO.

The global and common objective of all the projects integrated in the ACC is the reduction of child sexual exploitation in the two regions where we work, West Africa and South Asia. The focus lies on child protection strengthening against profit oriented sexual exploitation. The global objective covers three main transversal domains : prevention, protection and rehabilitation of the children and activities in the project are set up in collaboration with local partners and public authorities.

In the next three years, 14 multi-year projects are carried out together with 20 local partners, which are already operational in the child protection domain. ECPAT Luxembourg already knows the majority of the local partner associations due to collaborations in the past, whereby others are new partners, such as Associação Crianças Desfavorecidas (ACRIDES) in Cape-Verde. Apart from India and Nepal in South Asia, ECPAT Luxembourg finances projects in six countries of West-Africa.

Sexual exploitation of children can take many forms and is constantly evolving particularly with advances in information and communication technologies. The 14 projects intervene in the four categories namely : exploitation of children in prostitution, online sexual exploitation of children, trafficking of children for sexual purposes and child marriages.

Nepal and India have experienced rapid social and economic liberalisation of markets, which often affects and challenges currently held norms and practices. Consistent structural changes have led to increased mobility of capital and labour, expanded trans-border trade, and increased intraregional migration. Unfortunately, these changes contribute to an environment nurturing all manifestations of child sexual exploitation. ECPAT Luxembourg’s regional office in Kathmandu, Nepal, supports the activities of four local partners in Nepal and in India who deal with all the above-mentioned intervention forms.

In West Africa the operational focus lies on exploitation of children in prostitution with a special attention to sexual exploitation of children in the context of travel and tourism (SECTT). Morocco and Senegal are well known destinations for travellers and tourists from outside of Africa to use children in sexual activities for remuneration. Children’s low social status in large parts of West Africa enhance their vulnerability to enter prostitution. Children are often considered as commodities that can be sold, traded or just abandoned. The institutional powerlessness or carelessness worsens the situation.

The total three years’ budget foresees an overall investment of 4.2 million Euro. The ACC contributes 80% to this amount. The financial obligation of ECPAT Luxembourg is to contribute 840.000 Euro (or 20%) over the next three years. The projects in Nepal and Mali receive the highest financial support – those two countries represent almost 50% of the total global budget. ECPAT Luxembourg has a special attachment to those two countries, as they are the first ones where ECPAT Luxembourg worked. The projects are holistic in the sense that they cover all three domains of prevention, protection and rehabilitation throughout the countries. Furthermore, the operational costs and human resource costs for the two regional offices of ECPAT Luxembourg are included in the budgets for Mali and Nepal. Overall, as the graph shows below, 44% of the total budget are dedicated to projects in South-Asia and the rest is allocated for activities in West Africa, where the biggest part of the financial support goes to Mali.

Communiqué par ECPAT