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Regional preparations for the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children2001 marks five years since the First World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, which was held in Stockholm in 1996. This was the first time in history that Government leaders made a commitment to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation. All participating governments adopted a Declaration and Agenda for Action, confirming their agreement to establish country focal points and to develop national plans of action by the year 2000. This year, the Government leaders are gathering for the second time in Yokohama, Japan, at the Second World Congress, to take stock of the progress made since the last Congress, to learn from "good practices" from around the world, and to identify priority concerns for further action. In preparation for the Second World Congress, six regional consultations are being held worldwide, of which the East Asia and the Pacific Regional Consultation, to be convened from 16 to 18 October 2001 in Bangkok is one. The Consultation is co-organized by UNICEF, ESCAP, ECPAT International and the NGO Group through the Save the Children Alliance in cooperation with the Government of Japan. Over 200 representatives of Governments, NGOs, the private sector, UN bodies as well as young people are expected to attend. A major objective of the Second World Congress and the Regional Consultations in preparation for the World Congress is to share and learn from "good practices" implemented during the past five years. In the East Asia and the Pacific Region, a group of international agencies have produced a collection of good practices in combating commercial sexual exploitation of children in the region, as a preparatory activity for the Regional Consultation. This interagency collaboration involved the following organisations: ECPAT International, ESCAP, IOM (International Organization on Migration), ILO-IPEC (International Programme for Elimination of Child Labour, International Labour Organization), UNAIDS (United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS), UN Inter-Agency Project on Trafficking in Women and Children in the Mekong Subregion, and UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund). The ESCAP HRD Section coordinated the preparation of the "good practices" publication. The case studies feature 11 "good practices" from the East Asia and Pacific region, representing a wide variety of interventions in all of the five areas of the Stockholm Agenda for Action. These areas include: (1) prevention, (2) protection, (3) recovery and reintegration, (4) child participation and (5) coordination and cooperation. The implementation of the "good practices" also included a wide range of actors, including Governments, NGOs, UN agencies and young people themselves. All of the 11 case studies show the achievement of important successes,
and some inspired similar efforts all around the world. There are case
studies of regional projects with participation from the highest levels
of government. There is also a case study of a 20-minute public service
radio programme run by a team of disadvantaged young people. There is
an intervention seeking to improve the rehabilitation of victims by
improving counselling services, while another seeks to prevent abuse
by providing potential victims with employable skills. There are also
case studies from both developing countries and developed countries,
child sexual exploitation not being something that is eliminated by
high incomes alone. While the case studies do not leave the readers
with the illusion that reducing commercial sexual exploitation of children
is easy, they at the same time show that progress is, nevertheless,
possible. |