Global March

Girls Advocacy Alliance

Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) program is a 5-years program (2016-2020) of Plan Nederland, Terre des Hommes Nederland and Defence for Children-ECPAT Nederland, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Global March Against Child Labour (Global March) is the technical implementing partner of GAA at Asia, Netherlands and International levels. The project aims to promote equal rights and opportunities for girls and young women, are better protected from all forms of gender based violence, labour exploitation and are economically empowered in 10 countries spread across Africa and Asia.

The prevalence of gender-based violence and discrimination worldwide remains high. In this context, the project will pay particular attention to the vulnerabilities that girls and young women face such as sexual violence, early and forced marriages, forced labour, child labour, trafficking, barriers in access to education, etc. Violence against girls and (young) women and the denial of their economic rights stand in the way of achieving substantive gender equality and increase their vulnerability to child labour, child trafficking and (commercial) sexual exploitation. Once trapped in physical and economic forms of exploitation, it is even harder to turn this around, more so because both forms of discrimination and exploitation are driven and endorsed by the same set of norms and values. Therefore, the GAA is not only addressing economic and physical aspects of gender-equality. It also addresses underlying social-cultural norms and the policies and legislation that reflect and sustain these norms and values.

By supporting local partners through capacity building and strengthening network voices as well as through research, lobby and advocacy, the GAA program wants to achieve the following by 2020:

  • Civil society organizations and networks in the program countries have the capacity to influence governments and to actively advocate for the active implementation of policies that challenge girls’ and women’s economic exclusion and gender based violence, while coordinating their interventions.
  • Local opinion leaders and communities in the selected countries promote norms and values ​​that prevent violence and economic exclusion of girls and women.
  • Governments in the program countries implement effective policies, legislations, programs and measures that combat violence and promote economic empowerment of girls and young women.
  • Dutch companies and companies in the program countries are committed to the elimination of violence against girls in their supply chain and provide access to work, safer workplaces, better working conditions for girls and young women and support the transition from school to work for girls.

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