First ECPAT International Assembly - 1999

One objective of the Assembly was to develop the capacity of ECPAT groups to combat CSEC. Workshops are an excellent way of doing this and as there is a high level of expertise within ECPAT itself, many workshop facilitators were drawn from the network. A second objective was for members to agree on an institutional framework to direct the policies and activities of the ECPAT network in the coming years. A Constitution was adopted and an international Board was elected. Strategic directions for the coming period were discussed and priorities identified.

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai of Thailand delivered a speech stressing the need for partnership between government and the non-governmental sector in combating CSEC. In his keynote speech, part of which appears in the following pages, Professor Muntarbhorn, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children and a steadfast ECPAT friend, first of all outlined the multiple roles played by ECPAT and then listed some of the challenges facing the organisation.

The Community Theatre Group of Thailand performed a play written and directed by a Thai folk artist. The young performers used simple props, masks and traditional musical instruments. The final event of the Assembly was the launch and distribution of a global report, “A Step Forward,” on how governments are keeping the promises they made to children at the First World Congress. Echoing the title of the report, newly-elected Chairperson, Jo de Linde, urged for all ECPAT members to “ … take a step forward together.”