Consultancy Lobby & Advocacy for international police cooperation

Consultancy

Lobby & Advocacy for international police cooperation

Global based in the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation of children

July 2024 – February 2025

Estimated work load: 85 working days

ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT

ECPAT International is a global network of organisations working together for the elimination of the sexual exploitation of children (SEC) in all its manifestations i.e., exploitation of children in prostitution, online child sexual exploitation, sale and trafficking of children for sexual purposes, sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism and some forms of child, early and forced marriage. The ECPAT Network currently consists of 125 members working at national and local levels in 104 countries.

The ECPAT International Secretariat coordinates the global work of the organisation and is based in Bangkok, Thailand. The Secretariat designs and implements global and regional level programmes, and undertakes programming, advocacy and research and facilitates a range of network initiatives.

CONSULTANCY CONTEXT

The consultancy will be conducted as part of the project led by the Down to Zero Alliance. The Alliance consists of Terre des Hommes Netherlands, Child Rights Coalition Asia, Conexión, Defence for Children – ECPAT, Free a Girl, and Plan International, in partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ECPAT International is a technical implementing partner for the Lobby & Advocacy component.

As part of this collaboration, ECPAT leads a global advocacy pillar that is aimed at engaging with law enforcement authorities and relevant duty-bearers to step up the prevention of the sexual exploitation of children in both online and offline contexts. With the expertise, reach and innovative practices of all members brought together with this Alliance, ECPAT International aims to challenge the way interventions and programs are designed to prevent harm and influence decision-making processes in the designing, planning, and implementation of preventive activities, specifically in cooperation with law enforcement.

The Down to Zero Alliance works together to end child sexual exploitation and abuse, recognising a continuity of online and offline forms of exploitation of children. The advocacy is based on the evidence from the Disrupting Harm project that provides valuable insights into how online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is occurring in 13 countries, three of which are part of the Down to Zero Alliance. Disrupting Harm is currently being rolled out in 12 new countries, including three countries of focus of the Down to Zero Alliance. Each final report offers specific roadmaps for countries to strengthen their prevention and response systems. The results are complemented by conversations with survivors in 12 countries. This is an example where a wealth of data is available that challenges the way the whole sector contributes to misrepresenting perpetrators and victims compared to what recent evidence is demonstrating. The recent child participatory project by Terre des Hommes Netherlands together with ECPAT International and Eurochild provided data that challenge the way we try to collectively depict and prevent sexual exploitation of children. The VOICE project, as an initiative of ECPAT International, Eurochild, and Terre des Hommes Netherlands brought the views of children and caregivers into the policy debate around safe digital environments. Through this research, partners engaged in collaborative,

meaningful Focus Group Discussions with almost 500 children in 15 countries in Europe, Asia, and South America, and around 6,600 caregivers from the same participating countries that contributed their views through an online survey. The above evidence, along with the recommendations from research that was conducted in two pilot countries in Asia (Indonesia and The Philippines), on how prevention efforts can be better reflected in cooperation between international law enforcement and the selected study countries in effective crime prevention initiatives to tackle sexual abuse and exploitation of children, provide knowledge-based evidence for the implementation of the global and regional Lobby & Advocacy.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this consultancy is to work with ECPAT International and in cooperation with the partners of the Down to Zero Alliance, to develop and implement a comprehensive Lobby & Advocacy strategy, based on the evidence that was build, and groundwork experiences from the selected civil society organsiations operating in twelve countries in Asia and the Americas.

The Lobby & Advocacy strategy is to be implemented as part of the project component that aims to:

• Support global exchange of good practices worldwide for the police initiatives/programs on effective crime prevention to tackle sexual abuse and exploitation of children, including the relevant international standards and guidelines.
• Analyse the promising and gaps of international police cooperation between Interpol, VGT, and the selected countries among the twelve project focus countries in Asia and Latin America, on the effective crime prevention initiatives to tackle sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
• Provide recommendations for the international lobbying and advocacy initiatives of the Alliance on the strengthening of international police cooperation in the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

The consultant will lead the law enforcement component that involves project coordination elements. This, under the supervision of the Project Manager responsible for the overall project coordination and management. The consultant will work with ECPAT International and the Alliance to influence decisions and law enforcement approaches to prevention and response to sexual exploitation of children. The consultancy will require also representation and participation in selected key Lobby & Advocacy events, to influence change at global and regional levels.

EXPECTED ACTIVITIES/ DELIVERABLES

• Consult internally with relevant staff and units of ECPAT International to propose a strategy, workplan and monitoring framework taking into account already available knowledge-based evidence and what has been delivered so far.
• Coordinate with the justice consultant and distil from existing data (Disrupting Harm, VOICE project and other sources) gaps between realities and depiction of perpetrators and victims, contrasting evidence with examples where this is not properly reflected in prevention and response strategies.
• Conduct the analysis of the findings of abovementioned, and engage with members of the Alliance and selected ECPAT members to enrich the analysis and develop engagement strategy (clarifying target audience, means, key messages, roles and responsibilities, etc.).
• Liase with the APAC Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and Youth IGF to work with the Alliance to add a value in terms of advocacy with the next summit which will take place in Taipei from 19 to 23 August 2024, and possibly travel to Taipei to join these meetings and support the advocacy done by the Alliance.
• Collaborate with the ECPAT International Communication team to develop the tools, models and materials, and have them validated by ECPAT and an interested Alliance members.
• Lead a Lobby & Advocacy campaign with engagement and participation of the Alliance members in the spaces agreed upon by the strategy (awareness raising, training practitioners, public engagement, targeted advocacy spaces, etc.).
• Document the Lobby & Advocacy process, lessons learned and outcomes with the participating Alliance members, and report to the Project Manager.

Estimated average work load: 2-3 working days per week

CONSULTANT PROFILE

• Advanced degree in law, criminal justice, child rights, human rights, social sciences, political sciences, international policies or related fields.
• Demonstrated in-depth understanding of child rights, child protection and in particular sexual exploitation and abuse of children, crime prevention, and cooperation with law enforcement.
• Experience in lobby, advocacy and campaigning, with minimum 7 years of experience.
• Proven records of successful experience in project management and networks coordination.
• Experience in delivering training related to the thematic focus of the consultancy.
• Fluent written and spoken English, knowledge of additional languages, in particular Spanish is a plus.
• High ethical standards.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This is a home-based position using their own equipment. The consultant(s) should be available for online calls including with different time zones in particular with Thailand where ECPAT International Secretariat is based.
• Limited travel may be required. travel costs will be covered by ECPAT in accordance with ECPAT’s travel policies. The location and date will be confirmed in later stage.
• The Consultant is expected to act at all times in a manner consistent with the values of ECPAT International and in compliance with the organisation’s policies and procedures including Safeguarding Policies and the Code of Conduct.

OUR COMMITMENTS

As ECPAT’s International Secretariat we recognise that our strength lies in the diversity of the people who make up our global network, staff, volunteers and consultants. We are committed to being an inclusive workplace where people of all backgrounds and cultures can strive and be themselves. This means we will challenge ourselves to do better and to continue learning, to create and maintain a working environment steeped in respect, tolerance, safety, and where all parties are valued equally.

As a child-focused organisation, ECPAT has a strong commitment to child safeguarding and rigorous procedures, and the successful candidate will be required to sign our 2 codes of conduct.