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Protecting children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism

- responsibility of the private sector

Camelia Tepelus, Secretariat Coordinator - Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism

Expert Consultations for World Congress IIIUNICEF IRC, Florence, April 21-23, 2008

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� Tourism Industry – largest economic sector in the wo rld; force for peace, cultural understanding, and economic growth… but also a potential magnet for sexual exploitation of women a nd children

�CSR in tourism - environmental issues, social issue s

�What can the industry do? Voluntary initiatives – Th eCode.org, IBLF, ChildWise Tourism, etc.

�TheCode.org – a system of good practice, implementati on examples

�Challenges & lessons learned from working with the private sector

�Conclusions

CTepelus /Florence, April 22, 2008

overview

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Tourism Sector Tourism Sector ––policy answers to the problem of child sex tourism policy answers to the problem of child sex tourism

• WTO declaration on the Prevention of Organized Sex Tourism (1995).

• International Association of Air Travel (IATA) – Final Resolution Condemning Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (1996)

• International Hotel and Restaurant Association- Resolution against commercial sexual exploitation of children (1996).

• Global Code of Tourism Ethics (1999).

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World Tourism Organization –Global Code of Tourism Ethics

• Adopted in 199 by 139 governments of member states, ratified by the UN in 2001:

Art.2 – Sexual exploitation, in any of its forms, especially sexual and in particular affecting children, violates the fundamental objectives of tourism, and constitutes a negation of its essence. According to international law, sexual exploitation must be combated without reservations, with the cooperation of all member states, and must be rigorously sanctioned in national legislation of both tourism destination and origin countries.

2000-2003 – European Union funds pilot projects engaging the tourism industry in the fight against CST

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• Project engaging the tourism private sector (tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, etc)in preventingand combatingsexual exploitation of children related to travel and tourism.

• Initiated 1998, by ECPAT Sweden and Nordic tour operators, with the support of the WTO, currently also supported by UNICEF

• Over 600 companies in 23 countries are currently signatories of the Code

Towards a tourism industryCode of Conduct

www.thecode.org

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Code of conduct for the protection of children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism

www.thecode.org1. Have an ethical corporate policy against the

exploitation of children in tourism

2. Educate and train the company staff

3. Inform travellers

4. Introduce specific clauses in contracts with su ppliers

5. Contact ’key persons’ at the destinations

6. Report annually

CTepelus / Vienna, Feb 15, 2008

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International level – Steering/Executive Committees

2008-2010• Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism

Development (UNEP.UNESCO.WTO) – Chair, Fausta Borsani, Kuoni Holding

• ECPAT International

• UNWTO, UNICEF, SECO

• DRV, Sol Melia, Accor Hotels• Fair Trade in Tourism, South Africa; Fundacion Paniamor,

Costa Rica

National level – ECPAT groups, NGOs, UNICEF, governments

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Standardized procedure

• Since 2007 – standard procedure

- Application stage

- Action Plan

- Approval – signing of the Code

- Annual reporting – monitoring

- TheCode.org – organizational strategy 2008-2010

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Implementation results

• The Code adopted by over 600 companies in 23 countries: Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America – tourism operators, hotels, tourism industry associations

• 80% of the Nordic tour operating sector signed the Code

• 23 members of the Tour Operators’ Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development (UNEP.UNESCO.UNWTO)

• Tourism industry associations from Germany, Austria, Italy, USA, the Netherlands, Mexico, Belize

• Awarded as a “Tourism for Tomorrow” project by British Airways, 2003

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...Results

• The Code in 2008 – signed by over 600 companies in 23 countries

• Impact: over 30 million tourists use the services of a Code signatory company

• Recognition as best practice for the protection of children’s rights and against trafficking in human beings by OSCE, UNWTO, UNICEF, ILO

• Working on standardizing implementation procedures, reporting and monitoring

Launch of the Code in North America, April 21, 2004, NY (UNICEF) – signing by Carlson and the US State Department

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World Tourism Forum for Peace and Sustainable DevelopmentBrazil, Porto Alegre, Dec. 2006

Outcomes:-Regional South American Task Force on the Protection of Children; -‘Sustainable Tourism & Childhood’ on the agenda of the II nd South American ministerial meeting;- Training Course for MERCOSUR officials from tourism ministries and NTAs;- Regional awareness raising campaign: 12 countries in South America.

Working at regional level - South America

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Working at regional level - Central and Eastern Europe, with the support of OSCERomania, Bulgaria, Albania and Montenegro

(2005 - 2007)

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AfricaKenya – trainings Oct.2005 & Dec. 2007 for the Kenyan

Ministry of Tourism (a project of Respect Austria).

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Cooperation – origin - destination countries

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Information on company websites

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Japan Committee for UNICEF and ECPAT/STOP worked with top Japanese companies signing the Code in 2005, and continuing with an awareness

raising campaign - catalogues of JTB, JATA, JAL -

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Costa rica Campaign 2003Costa rica Campaign 2003Costa rica Campaign 2003Costa rica Campaign 2003Costa rica Campaign 2003Costa rica Campaign 2003Costa rica Campaign 2003Costa rica Campaign 2003--------2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 ‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘we mean itwe mean itwe mean itwe mean itwe mean itwe mean itwe mean itwe mean it’’’’’’’’

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Information displayed in key transit areas Information displayed in key transit areas Information displayed in key transit areas Information displayed in key transit areas Information displayed in key transit areas Information displayed in key transit areas Information displayed in key transit areas Information displayed in key transit areas ––––––––

airports, airports, airports, airports, airports, airports, airports, airports, transit POINTS, customs, ETC.transit POINTS, customs, ETC.transit POINTS, customs, ETC.transit POINTS, customs, ETC.transit POINTS, customs, ETC.transit POINTS, customs, ETC.transit POINTS, customs, ETC.transit POINTS, customs, ETC.

Costa rica Campaign Costa rica Campaign Costa rica Campaign Costa rica Campaign Costa rica Campaign Costa rica Campaign Costa rica Campaign Costa rica Campaign

20052005200520052005200520052005--------2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007

‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘protected areasprotected areasprotected areasprotected areasprotected areasprotected areasprotected areasprotected areas’’’’’’’’

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Tourism Code of Conduct – lessons learned

Protection of children’s rights as element within a context of sustainable tourism and corporate social responsibilityChild protection – element of quality assurance for the companies engagedThe importance of cooperation with key partners(ECPAT network, UNWTO, tourism private sector, UNICEF) Willingness to adjust strategy to local conditions- engaging all stakeholders Recognizethe efforts and rewardresponsible companiesFunding– 2007 strategy for organizational development

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Materials available

• UNWTO training modules for tourism professionals and youth

• CDROM – global good practices.

• Code of conduct manual – overview and examples of implementation

• In-flight videos.

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www.thecode.org

Code Secretariat Camelia Tepelus

c/o ECPAT USA, 157 Montague Street,

Brooklyn, NY11201, USA

Camelia.tepelus@thecode.org, Ph: + 1 718 935 9192, Fax: + 1 718 9359173

…for a socially responsible travel and tourism industry

To establish an ethical policy regarding commercial sexual

exploitation of children.

2.To train the personnel in the country of origin and travel

destinations.

3.To introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers, stating a

common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children.

4.To provide information to travellers by means of catalogues,

brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc.

5.To provide information to local "key persons" at the

destinations.

6.To report annually.