Officials from 48 countries meeting Wednesday in Brussels are expected to formally create what they are calling a global alliance to fight child sexual abuse online, a cross-border crime that is rising alarmingly.

European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom said there are, by conservative estimates, 1 million photographs of child pornography on the Internet, with an additional 50,000 being posted every year.

"Behind each of these images there is an abused child, an exploited and helpless victim," Malmstrom said Wednesday at a news conference. "And every time someone looks at these pictures, that child is exploited and violated again and again and again."

The alliance is expected to focus on identifying and helping victims, prosecuting offenders, increasing public awareness, and reducing the availability of child pornography online. The countries involved will work on exchanging information, expertise and training, said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who appeared at a news conference with Malmstrom.

Holder said that no one nation could solve the problem alone.

"It's only by working together — in common cause, in good faith, and with mutual respect — that our nations will be able to secure the progress we need in bringing criminals to justice and getting abused and exploited children to safety," he said.

"Those who would harm our children are not respecters of our national borders — we in law enforcement must not allow these borders to be impediments to our best efforts," he said.

Representatives of the 48 countries involved are expected to approve a joint declaration later Wednesday. (AP)