On 21 July 2011 I travelled to Dublin to join our campaign partners the Children’s Rights Alliance, (a coalition of over 90 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to secure the rights and needs of children in Ireland) and The Body Shop Ireland  to hand over their petition to the Irish Government on the steps of Leinster House, the Irish Parliament.

The petition called on the government to: identify child victims and enforce laws to prosecute child traffickers; provide child victims with the support they need to escape their traffickers and rebuild their lives; implement the Irish Government's National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Human Beings 2009-2012 and to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

The day began at The Body Shop with photo calls, interviews with the press, and speeches from the Children's Rights Alliance and The Body Shop and activities for children. Representatives from children's charity Barnardo’s and the Irish Refugee Council also attended to demonstrate their support for the campaign.  

I then joined a group of enthusiastic campaign supporters to march (in the rain!) from The Body Shop, escorted by cheery police officers, to parliament where the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs accepted the petition on behalf of the Irish government.

We hope that the Irish government will prove that they are proactive, forward-thinking and focused on children's rights, and will soon implement the necessary changes to improve care and protection for child trafficking victims in Ireland.

For more details on the Children's Rights Alliance click here.

Karen Sizeland, ECPAT UK Training Manager