Ms. Najat Maalla M’jid of Morocco has been appointed a Special Representative on Violence Against Children at the level of Assistant of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, which was announced on 30 May. A medical doctor specialized in paediatrics, Ms. M’jid has devoted her life over the last three decades to promoting and protecting children’s […]

Tourism is high on the agenda for Uganda with it experiencing the highest growth rate in tourism across Africa in 2011. Across the continent tourism industry has more than tripled in the last two decades with numbers of tourist’s arrivals set to more than double again by 2030. ECPAT International’s latest report finds that voluntourism has […]

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) announced at the end of last week that it is establishing a global taskforce to help the industry prevent and combat human trafficking – including of children for sexual purposes. Human trafficking is worth $150 billion annually and affects more than 40 million people worldwide. An estimated 5.5 million of […]

The resolution on “Formulating and Implementing Project Based Initiative on Strengthening Legal Frameworks to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism” mandates and supports the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Secretariat to take action as well as to create engagement with regional and international communities on child protection from sexual exploitation in travel and […]

On March 13-14, travel and tourism industry representatives, governments, experts and NGOs came together to discuss the protection of children in travel and tourism at an International Forum in Cancún, Mexico. The Forum was supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, TUI Care Foundation and TUI Mexico and organized by ECPAT Mexico, Defence for […]

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) representing a diverse global membership within the sustainable travel and tourism industry is expanding the implementation of child protection measures. At ITB Berlin, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with The Code and ECPAT International to work together to expand standards for the protection […]

The Roundtable Human Rights in Tourism has launched a new tool for the travel and tourism industry to begin embedding human rights into their practice and business activities. The tool provides specific step by step guidelines for travel, transportation, accommodation, food and beverage and activities industries to help them analyse risks and take action. The […]

In 2014, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was established due to serious concerns that some organisations had failed and were continuing to fail to protect children from sexual abuse, particularly in light of many high profile cases. A recent investigation made public evidence of institutional failures to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse by […]

ReThink Orphanages Network, in partnership with World Challenge and Save The Children are taking their recent Australian Ethical Student Travel conference global. Over March and April speakers from government, child protection and the travel and tourism industry will be discussing how the education sector can sustainably and ethically engage with vulnerable communities when travelling abroad […]

ECPAT International has released its latest country overview report on the manifestations of sexual exploitation of children in Italy. Particular groups including Roma and Traveller children are amongst those at the highest risk for exploitation through trafficking and prostitution due to their low economic status and stigmatization. Italy is a well-known and popular tourist destination attracting […]