March 10, 2021

Keeping Child Protection in Focus

ECPAT and The Code urge the travel and tourism industry to keep child protection on their recovery agenda. 

The past year with the global Covid-19 pandemic has had various impacts on people throughout the world. Economies are affected and many businesses are struggling for their own survival. Families relying on work in the tourism industry face unprecedented challenges. Without job opportunities, people in many countries are falling into poverty, which makes families and children more vulnerable to all forms of sexual exploitation, including trafficking. Offenders gain the trust of families and groom children, to exploit them for the production of online child abuse material or live-streaming. And offenders in the virtual environment are likely to follow up with direct travel to destinations once the restrictions are eased – to exploit children in person. 

In the view of the restart of tourism, it is essential to ensure that child protection is prioritised by governments and the private sector. ECPAT and several organisations have already published a “Call for restarting travel & tourism with child protection in focus” on the occasion of World Tourism Day 2020. They are reiterating the Call for Action and discussing recommendations on how to make tourism fully responsible and sustainable, through the focus on child protection:

Tuesday, 9 March (Responsible Tourism Café)
10:30 – 11:00 Breakfast Briefing: New Trends and Challenges for Child Protection
13:00 – 13:30 Coffee Briefing: Child Protection during Post-Covid Travel

Wednesday, 10 March (Responsible Tourism Café)
12:30 – 13:00 Lunch Briefing: New Trends and Challenges for Child Protection

Thursday, 11 March (Responsible Tourism Café)
10:00 – 10:30
Breakfast Briefing: Child Protection during Post-Covid Travel

Learn more by visiting the BrandCards (ECPAT Germany and The Code

Keeping Child Protection in Focus

Keeping Child Protection in Focus