TOURISM EXPERTS MEET TO PREVENT CHILD SEX TOURISM IN ASIA

Press Release
REC/96

TOURISM EXPERTS MEET TO PREVENT CHILD SEX TOURISM IN ASIA

Bangkok, 15 August (United Nations Information Services) -- Tourism industry trainers from ten Asian countries will meet in Bangkok to discuss ways to prevent child sex tourism through tourism industry training and human resource development from 22 to 23 August at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.

The meeting is the first regional or international meeting to discuss how the tourism industry can participate in prevention initiatives through training and development.

The workshop is being organized by ECPAT Australia (Australia Campaign to End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking) in partnership with the Human Resource Development Section of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Tourism training experts from government and the private sector, universities and tourism authorities in Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam are expected to attend the two-day meeting.

The aim is to develop a regional network of training specialists on the prevention of child sex tourism.

“The tourism industry can play a significant role in the prevention of child sex tourism. It is essential that all employees in the tourism sector be trained to understand and respond to child exploitation. Tourism educators can also encourage new research and information exchange,” said workshop co-ordinator Christine Beddoe of ECPAT.

The workshop is being supported with the assistance of ECPAT Australia, ESCAP’s Human Resource Development Section, AusAID (the Australian Agency for International Development) and Thai Airways International.

Background Information

ECPAT Australia is part of the international ECPAT campaign to end child prostitution, child pornography, and trafficking. ECPAT Australia developed the Child Wise Tourism training program in 1999 in order to raise awareness of child sex tourism and to develop prevention strategies for the Asian tourism industry. ECPAT Australia has been working with tourism training providers as a means of communicating these strategies to industry and to build partnerships between industry, local government, and the non-government sector working on child protection programs. To date ECPAT Australia has worked with tourism industry and

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education providers in Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Although the Child Wise Tourism programme has been successful, what has become evident is the lack of locally-produced research and resource materials and the need to develop a regional network of tourism training providers who can explore these issues further and exchange information and research within an Asian context. In order to address this and other relevant issues, ECPAT Australia in partnership with ESCAP’s Human Resource Development Section is facilitating a regional workshop to bring together tourism training providers from the private and public sector representing a number of countries within the Asian region.

Workshop participants will share experiences and discuss how to develop programmes to teach students and industry about the prevention of child sex tourism. They will be encouraged to share information on teaching methodologies. The outcomes will include the development of a regional network for exchange of information and research, and a strategy to identify the needs of teachers and training providers at a local and regional level.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific is the main organization for United Nations activities in the Asian and Pacific region. Located in Bangkok, Thailand, ESCAP has been working with Governments since the Second World War to find solutions to the economic and social demands and challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region today. ESCAP is the largest of the five United Nations Regional Commissions, representing some 60 per cent of the world's population.

For further information please contact: Christine Beddoe, ECPAT Australia, email: , Tel: 61 3 9419 1844 or 61 412 561 565 (15/08/00 -- 19/08/00), Tel: 61 412 561 565 (19/08/00 - 24/08/00), Fax: 61 3 9419 9518.

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