2013 has been an amazing year in the fight against child sex tourism, with a record number of leading tourism companies taking action to protect children through The Code. As the year comes to a close, please join us in celebrating some of the key successes we’ve achieved together this year.
116 new companies helping to protect children in tourism
Thank you to the hundreds of inspiring tourism companies around the world who have chosen to take a stand against child sex tourism by joining The Code and implementing the six child protection criteria. We’re thrilled that 116 new companies became active members of The Code this year!
Thousands of front line staff trained to recognize and report child abuse
This year more than 10,000 tourism staff were trained how to recognize and report suspected cases of child abuse. That means there are thousands more watchful eyes actively working to keep children safe. Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Code child protection training!
The Code recognized as a leader in sustainable tourism development
We were honored to be awarded the Skal International ‘Sustainable Development in Tourism’ Award for the category of ‘Educational Programs’ in September. This award recognizes our development of an e-learning program especially designed to teach tourism staff how to recognize and report possible cases of child abuse.
International experts came together for the benefit of children
In October, The Code organized an international expert meeting hosted by SECO in Switzerland, which brought together representatives from local and international NGOs, leading tourism companies, and government departments to discuss how to increase the impact of The Code and protect more children around the world from sex tourism. It was a unique and inspiring couple of days and we thank all participants for generously donating their time and talents.
Inspiring network of child rights defenders support The Code around the world
The Code’s local representatives are an international network of non-governmental organisations who work tirelessly to protect the rights of children in their local countries. Our local representatives in countries like USA, Colombia, South Africa, Dominican Republic, and Switerland have been hard at work recruiting, training, and supporting tourism companies in their home countries throughout the year. Their work is crucial to The Code’s success and we are extremely proud to be working with such dedicated partners.
Thank you for your ongoing support
We’ve had amazing support online this year from people all around the world – with over 12,000 people following us through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It’s crucial that travellers everywhere understand the risks children face and become vigilant to help protect children too.
If you haven’t already please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Thank you once more for all you have done this year to help protect children in tourism.