Become a member
Mitigate risks
Ensure your business can respond to risks or costs associated with this crime by actively taking action to protect children.
Create a child safe business
Implement policies and procedures that will keep children safe across the globe whilst also attracting responsible customers.
Gain access to training and support
Gain access to free online training for your staff and support to implement the six criteria of The Code and keep children safe.
Application Process
Apply Online
To begin the application process please fill out our online application form. This process is very simple and should only take a few minutes.
Plan Approval
You prepare the Implementation Plan (a plan of implementing the 6 Criteria of The Code) with the support of your Local Code Representative, or The Code Secretariat. You send the Plan for its approval by The Code Manager. Once it is approved, you will recieve your first invoice for the annual membership.
Pay
After your application and Plan of Implementation are approved, you recieve an invoice for the annual membership. After it is paid, you obtain accesses to The Code e-learning platform and the Member Portal on www.thecode.org.
Sign
Once your invoice is paid, the Plan and application approved The Code team sends you for signing, an agreement via e-signature system, e-mail or with the support of your Local Code Representative.
Member!
Once you have signed the agreement, your company is officially a member of The Code and will be listed on our website. Your company can then add The Code’s logo to your website and print a membership certificate.
The Code welcomes applications for membership from a wide range of business and organisations. This includes the travel and tourism industry, volunteering organisations, companies whose employees travel for work, the ICT industry and more.
As a member of The Code, your company will commit to implementing six criteria to keep children safe.
- Establish a policy and procedures against sexual exploitation of children and regulation of the voluntourism.
- Train employees in children’s rights, the prevention of sexual exploitation and how to report suspected cases.
- Include a clause in contracts throughout the value chain stating a common repudiation and zero tolerance policy of sexual exploitation of children.
- Provide information to travellers on children’s rights, the prevention of sexual exploitation of children and how to report suspected cases.
- Support, collaborate and engage stakeholders in the prevention of sexual exploitation of children.
- Report annually on the implementation of the six criteria of The Code.
Annual Revenue | Membership Fee |
0 – 500,000 Euros per year | 50 Euros per year |
500,000 – 2.5 million Euros per year | 300 Euros per year |
2.5 – 50 million Euros per year | 800 Euros per year |
Over 50 million Euros per year | 2,000 Euros per year |
Membership fees can be paid securely online via PayPal.
Members of The Code adhere to a strict voluntourism and orphanage tourism policy to ensure children are protected. If your company has any volunteering we recommend you read this policy before you begin your application.
The Code does not accept membership of organisations involved in voluntourism activities which:
- have orphanages and other residential care centres incorporated (or with the possibility to incorporate) in tourism programs or packages.
The Code does accept membership of organisations involved in voluntourism activities that:
- limit child-related voluntourism activities to supervised teaching, sports, day–care centres and that have clear policies and procedures in place to minimise the risks and maximise the benefit to children in these settings do not focus directly on children.
Members and applicants that are involved in voluntourism activities are required to adhere to an extra minimum set of criteria, on top of the six criteria of The Code.
Our members are supported in-country by local organisations called Local Code Representatives or ‘LCRs’. This includes supporting you to develop your implementation plan, developing child protection policies and training staff.
Find our LCRs here.
Top Members are companies who have gone above and beyond to successfully implement all six criteria of The Code. Once achieved, your company will be recognised as a ‘Top Member’ on our website and gain access to a ‘Top Member’ logo certificate demonstrating your commitment to protecting children from sexual exploitation.
We can create greater awareness of child sexual exploitation by communicating with travellers, international operators, and local tourism suppliers. We feel that if we have the power to make a difference like that then it would be wrong not to.
Anne van der Tuuk
Abang Africa Travel
Top Members
Resources
The Code Voluntourism Policy
This policy outlines the risks of various forms of voluntourism, including orphanage tourism, and states the criteria by which organisations may apply to join The Code.
Download