Combatting child exploitation

Woord en Daad connects people worldwide in their efforts to overcome poverty and to realise a dignified existence for every individual. While the context of child exploitation is complex, we remain hopeful. This hope is grounded in the Biblical vision of God’s coming Kingdom — shining through even amidst the many visible signs of brokenness. This programme contributes directly to SDG 16.2: ‘End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children’.

Focal policy themes

The aim to end child exploitation is closely linked to our focal policy theme ‘reaching the unreached’. These are the children who remain excluded from development efforts and live in deeply undignified circumstances. Increased vulnerability— due to gender, age, ethnicity, social-economic status, or disability — often places these children at greater risk of exploitation.

Another focal policy theme of Woord en Daad is ‘value based systemic change’. This is also integrated into our vision on child exploitation. Our aim is to bring about transformation, not only in individual lives, but also in families, communities, organisations, sectors, and even nations— contributing to long-term, systemic change in how child exploitation is addressed.

Our approach

Child exploitation rarely occurs in isolation. It is part of a broader system —cultural, economic, social, and legal — that shapes both the risk of exploitation and the response to it. We therefore work with two main target groups: vulnerable children who are at risk of exploitation (prevention and protection focus) and children wo have been exploited (restoration and reintegration focus).

Our systemic approach addresses both these groups through four interconnected levels :

1. Empowerment of the child and family (individual, informal)
2. Transformation of social-cultural norms in communities (systemic, informal)
3. Access to social and economic resources (individual, formal)
4. Influence on policy and governance systems (systemic, formal)

Each domain contributes to either protection or restoration.

Woord en Daad is committed to restoring and reintegrating survivors of child exploitation and to preventing and protecting those at risk of being exploited. Every child should be able to enjoy their childhood, attend school and grow up in safety and dignity.