Partnerships

Our Partnerships

We value national and global partnerships and see them as critical to ending child sexual abuse and exploitation, especially in transnational forms.

We value partnerships and see them as critical to ending child sexual abuse and exploitation in Cambodia. Over the years, we have built strong partnerships among various sectors of society, some of which are highlighted below.

Government

APLE works closely with the Royal Government of Cambodia and has signed Memorandums of Understanding [MoU] to register and outline the scope of our work.

APLE signed a MoU with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in 2003, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation in 2006, and the Ministry of Interior in 2010.

Outside of formal partnerships, APLE collaborates closely with the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) and Cambodian National Council for Children (CNCC).

Formal collaboration

APLE has signed MoUs with the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation. Both MoUs focus on collaboration in the areas of capacity building, law enforcement, victim psychosocial and legal service, awareness raising, and hotline to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse/exploitation online and offline.

Partnership goal

APLE’s collaboration with government aims to strengthen the enforcement of national policy and legal frameworks on child protection; raise awareness of the rights of child victims; disseminate evidence based and up-to-date information about CSAE; support and give focus to actions against CSEA; and enhance cross-sector partnership between government, civil society and private sector in preventing and responding to CSAE.

Government bodies

Through the above MoUs, APLE cooperates with high levels of government bodies such as the National Committee for Counter Trafficking, and Cambodia National Council for Children at national and subnational levels. APLE also engages with government partners to provide critical support that contributes to change in laws and practices.

National Police

APLE has become a leading expert in investigating street-based abuse and works closely with the Cambodian National Police and its specialist Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Units nationwide through a formal MoU signed with the Ministry of Interior.

APLE and the national police have jointly implemented a capacity building program with a series of trainings focused on child-centric investigative procedure in cases of sexual exploitation against children. APLE also supports the establishment and operation of child-friendly interview rooms within several police units.

Foreign Law Enforcement

Given that sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism (SECTT) is most often perpetrated by travelling sex offenders, APLE also assists in cases where the suspect is foreign. When offenders of different nationalities are involved, APLE works closely with their respective countries’ law enforcement agencies to facilitate extraterritorial cooperation between national and international police. APLE has built relationships with numerous FLOs and strives to ensure cases assisted meet international police standards for successful prosecution.

Civil Society Organisations

In order to ensure that children who have been sexually abused or exploited receive the best possible care, APLE partners closely with other NGOs.

APLE provides social counselling and crisis intervention supports to child victim and their families in relation to the rescue and court proceedings, while we seek collaboration from other NGOs to provide long-term care and treatment.

Media

APLE believes that the media plays an important role in preventing child sexual abuse and exploitation by shining a light on case types and experiences. By working with the media, APLE prioritises principles of transparency and honesty with the aim of enhancing the awareness about the problem. APLE frequently publishes press releases to inform both local and international media of cases and to share the organisation’s opinions and expertise.

Collaborative Strategy

APLE seeks to increase awareness, understanding and actions by the high levels of government and other stakeholders who are responsible for child protection and/or support child victims in access to justice through the following approaches:

Raising awareness among high levels of government

Explore opportunities to engage with high level discussions and processes to raise attention on CSAE and influence decision-making, action plans, initiatives, mechanisms, systems, which aim to improve the prevention of CSAE

Disseminating evidence based knowledge

Continue to conduct research, develop tailored messages, analytical reports, position paper, IEC materials specific for particular audiences and advocacy purposes based on evidence and reliable data, incorporating, wherever possible, the voices and perspectives of children

Engaging with industry and media

Capitalize on working relationships with press and media, including by fostering a network of journalists and other communicators to appropriately report on CSAE related issues, or by organizing press conferences to disseminate information, case studies, statistics or other CSAE related news across mass media

Increasing coordination and cooperation

Improve coordination among government stakeholders and resource allocations for CSAE prevention

Membership & Partnership

APLE is a member of two global networks dedicated to combating the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and operates under formal MoUs with the Ministry of Interior & the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation. APLE is also a trusted partner of Facebook and a member of Family Care First Network.

Networks and partners