Project CONEC Baseline Study Transforming Systems: Connecting Children
The Creating a safer Online Environment for Every Child (CONEC) Project aims to protect children of all ages and genders in the target communities of Taguig City, Bohol, and Cebu in the Philippines from online sexual exploitation. The project’s baseline study, entitled “Transforming Systems: Connecting Children” was commissioned by Terre des Hommes Netherlands to establish baseline data for the set of indicators outlined in the project’s results framework.
About CONEC
The Creating a safer Online Environment for Every Child (CONEC) Project aims to protect children of all ages and genders in the target communities of Taguig City, Bohol, and Cebu in the Philippines from online sexual exploitation. To address online child sexual exploitation (OCSE), the project will focus on strengthening local child protection systems at various levels. Local governments will be influenced and equipped to implement programs and deliver appropriate services to child victims in a sustainable manner. This includes strengthening child protection mechanisms in communities and schools, as well as increasing the capacity of the social service workforce and other duty-bearers to provide OCSE-related information and services, which can also be facilitated through referral pathways.
Children and adult community members will be educated on OCSE to increase protective behaviours and engage them as active participants in the protection of children in their families and communities. They will be encouraged to conduct their own community-based activities to contribute to public education and advocacy. Other community stakeholders, such as local civil society organisations and the private sector, will also be educated and mobilised to collaborate with and/or support the local governments and the communities in combating OCSE. Given that poverty is the most compelling push factor for the prevalence of OCSE, a social protection package that includes education support, sustainable livelihoods, and employment referrals will be made available to OCSE victims, children at-risk, and their families.
Baseline Study
The project’s baseline study, entitled “Transforming Systems: Connecting Children” was commissioned by Terre des Hommes Netherlands to establish baseline data for the set of indicators outlined in the project’s results framework. The baseline results will be used as a measurement to monitor the project's progress against the set indicators over the course of the project implementation. The baseline study was carried out in three cities, namely Cebu, Mandaue, Taguig, and in four municipalities in Bohol province including Dauis, Panglao, Calape, and Tubigon. A mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, particularly document review, surveys, focus group discussions (FGD), and key informant interviews (KII), were employed to gather data in order to understand the communities’ current condition in relation to the project’s Theory of Change.