Girls Advocacy Alliance
The Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) was a global initiative of Plan International Netherlands, Terre des Hommes Netherlands and Defence for Children-ECPAT Netherlands in cooperaion with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This program was implemented from 2016-2020 to promote equal rights and opportunities for girls and young women in 10 countries across Asia and Africa. It aimed to influence key stakeholders in government, the private sector, civil society organisations and local communities to promote the rights of girls and young women. It was also directed to strengthen and train girls and young women and their respective organizations, to stand up for their rights.
In the Philippines, the GAA partners focused on addressing trafficking in persons, child labor, commercial sexual exploitation of children, and economic exclusion of girls and young women using advocacy and lobby strategies to push for the adoption or implementation of policies on girls’ and young women’s rights.
PKKK, as one of the GAA partners, invested in building the capacities of girls and young women (and some boys) for them to become better information sources and advocates who can best reach out to their peers. Through the #NotForSale campaign,those who were able to participate in various activities have been mobilized to become peer educators conducting orientation about Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) and Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) in various schools and communities and even among members of the Child Protection Councils. In Mariveles, some of the youth leaders trained under the project became members of child protection councils at the barangay and municipal levels.
Girls and young women who were also organized under the project, took part in the drafting and lobbying for the passage of ordinances against trafficking in persons and CSEC/OSEC.