ECPAT International works to ensure World Congress III results in effective measures to combat the sexual exploitation of children
Official Government delegations from 140 countries representing all regions of the world gathered together in Brazil from 25 to 28 November 2008 for the World Congress III against Sexual Exploitation of Children (WCIII). In total, more than 3000 people took part in the three-day gathering, including representatives from government, the private sector and civil society. 300 children and adolescents also joined and played an integral part in the WCIII. The Congress opened on a high note with the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, giving the keynote speech at the opening ceremony.
As an organizing partner, ECPAT International took a leading role both at the Congress itself and in its lead-up by mobilizing input from across our worldwide Network and working behind the scenes to ensure that the progress made at the Congress is translated into action.
Prior to the Congress, Regional preparatory meetings were held in Africa; East Asia and Pacific; Europe and Central Asia; South Asia; Latin America; and North America. ECPAT played a major role in these meetings through resource mobilization, and planning and organizing the participation of civil society, governments and other actors. ECPAT also developed support and protection structures for the participation of children in these meetings.
The preparatory meetings addressed the main thematic areas of the Congress, reviewed progress, gaps and outlined actions and recommendations to enhance the protection of children from commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in each region. In all these processes, ECPAT was a primary actor. ECPAT groups also organised special forums and preparatory meetings at the national level to prepare for the Congress, including meetings in Germany, Costa Rica, Austria, Italy, Turkey, the Philippines, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic and México.
The specific lessons learned and recommendations that emerged from these regional meetings were compiled into Call to Action booklets, which then fed into the global WCIII Outcome Document. These booklets summarised the main actions and specific advocacy messages that resulted from each region’s meeting. They also also served as valuable resources during the course of the Congress to ensure that these recommendations were echoed in the different forums.
Thematic Preparatory Meetings were also organized to give focused attention to the specific thematic areas of the Congress (Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); Legal Frameworks and Law Enforcement; International Cooperation; Child Abuse Images and Sexual Exploitation of Children Online; Engaging Men as Partners in Combating CSEC and Trafficking of Children and Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism). Two of the thematic meetings – those on Child Abuse Images and Sexual Exploitation of Children Online and Engaging Men as Partners in Combating CSEC - were organized by ECPAT to review progress, gaps and outline recommendations for action required to enhance protection of children from CSEC. ECPAT took a contributory role in all the other thematic preparatory meetings, such as at the Intra-familial Violence and Sexual Exploitationpreparatory meeting in Hong Kong, where ECPAT prepared three conference papers, gave presentations and organised a panel.
Child and adolescent participation is an important component of ECPAT’s work, and as such ECPAT ensured youth representation in the planning processes of the Congress through supporting the participation of our youth representative in the Congress Organising Committee (COC) meetings in Brazil. Children and Adolescent regional forums to prepare for the Congress were also organized in five regions of the world, as well as a number of other national level preparatory meetings, including in Brazil, Germany and Nepal.
ECPAT also played a leading role in the Children and Adolescent Participation Commission, which aimed to ensure the participation, substantive engagement and support and protection of children and adolescents in all the processes of the Congress. This process helped set up a vibrant and meaningful program for children and adolescents attending the Congress. ECPAT put together a youth facilitator’s team and a child protection team, including the lead Officer. A pre-Congress meeting also took place for all children and adolescents participating in the Congress in the days prior to WCIII. ECPAT also supported a group of young people to participate in the Congress, believing that their experience and inputs enrich the deliberations and outcomes of the Congress.
Technical papers covering the thematic areas of the Congress were prepared by ECPAT. Under the commissioning organization and the WCIII Special Rapporteur, Professor Jaap Doek, ECPAT commissioned and reviewed seven (out of eleven) of the WCIII thematic papers:
Prostitution of Children
Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes
Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism
Child Pornography and sexual exploitation online
Law enforcement dimensions
Psycho-Social dimensions
Corporate Social Responsibility & Role of Private Sector in combating Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
Financial Mechanism for combating commercial sexual exploitation of children online
Each of the papers contained recommendations, which provided a reference and input for the World Congress Outcome Document. These papers were reviewed by the ECPAT network, and made available in English, French, Spanish and Russian. ECPAT also prepared child-friendly versions of these thematic papers.
During the Congress,ECPAT members constituted a significant number of workshop presenters at WCIII, which allowed our network to share the valuable knowledge and experience from our work. ECPAT’s presentations and the discussions they generated at WCIII were a key element feeding into the recommendations of the World Congress Outcome Document.
In addition to workshop forums, the Congress also provided a unique opportunity for engagement with Governments through a series of ‘Government Dialogues,’ where governments gave presentations on the key thematic areas of the Congress and engaged in strategic discussions. A series of ‘Specialized/Technical Forums’ were also held, where specialized groups met for more in-depth technical sharing and discussion in relation to their work on CSEC, including forums for lawyers, ombudspeople for children, social workers, and more.
ECPAT staff served as rapporteurs in the Congress plenary sessions, Workshops, Government presentations and Dialogues. This information fed into the Congress Outcome Document, as well as will be used for advocacy purposes.
Together with Congress co-organisers, ECPAT reached out to media during the Congress, holding a pre-Congress press briefing to familiarise media with the themes of the Congress, as well as opening and closing press conferences and press releases, and arranging media interviews with the many experts at the WCIII.
ECPAT International also posted daily information and highlights of the Congress on our website. The ECPAT International booth was a magnet for many Congress participants, who sought out ECPAT’s WCIII-related publications and advocacy materials, as well as ECPAT’s wealth of materials on CSEC.
The Congress offered ECPAT and other stakeholders a unique and important opportunity to work together to ensure that in the coming years nations around the world prioritize children’s right to protection from sexual exploitation. The proposals, recommendations and suggested goals and targets that resulted from the Congress will help ensure that the global spotlight remains on combating the commercial sexual exploitation of children long after the Congress itself, and that the momentum attained is translated into systematic, measurable follow up actions with all stakeholders being accountable to their obligations.
