The Child Safe Tourism campaign was launched in November 2012 as part of the Project Childhood Prevention Pillar – an Australian Government initiative implemented by World Vision to prevent child sexual abuse within travel and tourism in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. With Project Childhood coming to completion in July 2014, World Vision pursued …
Read MoreGuest Post – Tim Gerrish, International Partnerships Manager, Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command of the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA-CEOP) Digital technology is important to children and young people. They use it to learn, play, socialise and express themselves in all types of creative ways, whether that’s sharing photos and videos, blogging, gaming, or …
Read MoreGuest Post – Willem Niemeijer, Founder and CEO of Khiri Travel The travel and tourism industry accounts for 1 in 11 jobs globally. According to research commissioned by WTTC (Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2014), it is the top job creator after education and directly employs over 100 million people worldwide, and as many as …
Read MoreAfter 34 months of intense activity, the Project Childhood Prevention Pillar team say farewell. Project Childhood Prevention Pillar was an Australian Government initiative to contribute to preventing child sexual abuse in travel and tourism in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. The project ended on 30 June 2014. With ever-increasing tourism flows to the region, …
Read MoreBangkok, Thailand – 4 June 2014. Many adults and children in Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam have a limited understanding of what constitutes child sexual abuse and how to prevent it, revealed a new report, Sex, Abuse and Childhood: A study about knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to child sexual abuse, including in travel …
Read MoreMadrid, Spain – 15 May 2014. As tourism continues to grow globally, particularly in South East Asia, it is becoming increasingly urgent to consider its impact on local communities, particular where this relates to child exploitation. This is why UNWTO and World Vision East Asia Regional Office have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, forging a partnership …
Read MorePhnom Penh, Cambodia – 26 March 2014. In 2013, Cambodia welcomed 4.2 million tourists, an increase of 17% from the previous year. This rapid growth of tourist arrivals is expected to continue year on year, raising concerns about how to ensure that local children are only positively impacted by tourism. Tourism destinations attract vulnerable children …
Read MoreGuest Post – Aarti Kapoor, Program Manager of Project Childhood Prevention Pillar. You know the situation well. You arrive in a new place, whether a remote village or a popular urban tourist site, and suddenly you notice the children. They confidently approach you, sometimes in groups, selling chewing gum or fruit or simply holding out …
Read MoreGuest Post – Laurie Ahern, President of Disability Rights International. An estimated 8 to 10 million children live in residential or institutional care around the world. And those born with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to being locked away and forgotten – many from birth. In some countries, doctors encourage parents to give up their child …
Read MoreGuest post – Daniela Papi, Co-Founder of Learning Service. Somehow I’ve become the bearer of bad news. Due to my TEDx talk on the problems with volunteer travel and much of my prior writing on the subject, I now frequently get asked to write about issues in the voluntourism sector. I’d like to start with a …
Read MoreBangkok, Thailand – 6 November 2013. Travellers to South East Asia want the tourism industry to take more action to protect children from exploitation, according to a new report issued by Project Childhood Prevention Pillar – an Australian aid initiative implemented by World Vision – in partnership with the University of Western Sydney. Last year, …
Read MoreGuest post – Amalee McCoy, Regional Child Protection Specialist for UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific. The abuse, neglect, violence and exploitation of children is alarmingly widespread, and the impact of these experiences on children are immediate, long lasting, and often devastating. UNICEF’s ground-breaking research report released in late 2012, Child Maltreatment: Prevalence, Incidence and …
Read MoreBangkok, Thailand – 31 July 2013. “Child protection is everyone’s business.” That was the message shared with travel and tourism business owners, operators and managers who took part in a Child Safe Tourism workshop at Aloft Hotel, Bangkok, on 23 July 2013. The training event was conducted by Project Childhood Prevention Pillar – an Australian …
Read MoreHelping to protect children from exploitation has been a core commitment of global adventure travel company, Intrepid Travel, since they began operating trips in South East Asia in 1989. They are operating in more than 120 countries across the world and are taking almost 100,000 travellers on trips every year. Child Safe Tourism (CST) spoke …
Read MorePhnom Penh, Cambodia – 2 March 2013. Child Helpline Cambodia extends its free 1280 helpline services’ opening hours from 13.5 to 24 hours today. The extension will meet the demand for access to emotional support services overnight, when many children and youth are in a better position to contact phone counsellors to discuss problems. Additionally, …
Read MoreWe’re pleased to announce the launch of the industry section of childsafetourism.org today. Whether you are a sole trader, small business or large company, there are simple steps you can take to better protect vulnerable children in tourism destinations and attract good quality customers who care about the places they visit. The industry section provides …
Read MoreGuest post – Marina Diotallevi, Programme Manager for Ethics & Social Dimensions of Tourism, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). With one billion tourists having just crossed international borders on 13 December 2012, tourism is undeniably among the foremost sectors of the global economy, driving growth and bolstering cultural understanding the world over. However, its infrastructure has …
Read MoreWith one billion tourists having crossed international borders in 2012, tourism is undeniably among the foremost sectors of the global economy, driving growth and bolstering cultural understanding the world over. However, its infrastructure has all too often been misappropriated for nefarious ends, such as the abuse of children. It is imperative to remember that tourism …
Read MoreBangkok, Thailand – 7 November 2012 Tourists to and within the Southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam want to be better educated about Child Safe Tourism according to a report issued by Project Childhood – Prevention Pillar, an Australian Aid initiative implemented by World Vision. The report ‘Child Safe Tourism: The …
Read MorePhnom Penh, Cambodia – 17 August 2012. The Cambodia Ministry of Tourism and World Vision Cambodia announces today the escalation of efforts to protect children in tourism through a new Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) initiative, Project Childhood. Project Childhood brings together World Vision, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and INTERPOL to …
Read MoreBangkok Post, Thailand – 27 September 2011. Travellers and expats in Thailand know the scene of child poverty well. A six year old girl sitting neatly on a mat, painted in bright red lipstick, with a woman sitting nearby; begging for money. A 12 year old boy selling chewing gum at 11pm in an adult …
Read MoreBangkok, Thailand – 26 September 2011. As South East Asia’s tourism industry explodes with huge increases in arrival numbers, more needs to be done to protect vulnerable children from sexual exploitation by travellers, warns international aid agency World Vision. The warning, issued as the world marks International World Tourism Day (Tuesday Sept 27), comes as …
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