By Andrew Howard, Campaigns Officer

Last week in Geneva, ECPAT and The Body Shop presented their global petition to the United Nations, calling on governments around the world to take urgent action to stop the trafficking and exploitation of children and young people.


The petition, which attracted an amazing 7,044,278 signatures in more than 50 countries, is a key part of ECPAT and The Body Shop’s global campaign to Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People. It is one of the largest petitions ever to be presented to the United Nations, and 735,889 of these signatures came from people in the UK.

On 28 September, at the historic Palais Wilson on the shore of Lake Geneva, ECPAT and The Body Shop presented the petition to Jean Zermatten, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (below picture, centre).

ECPAT International’s executive director, Kathleen Speake (below second from right), highlighted how the campaign supports the work of the Committee. She called on the Committee to organise a Day of General Discussion Focusing on the Issue of Child Trafficking and to adopt a General Comment on the issue of child trafficking in order to increase political commitment for more measures and initiatives to effectively protect children from being trafficked and exploited.

ECPAT Youth Representative Anna-Maria Khramchenkova (below, far right) from Russia also spoke on behalf of her peers and other youth involved in the campaign in asking for the prioritisation of the issue of child trafficking by the Committee.

Mr Zermatten strongly welcomed the petition and promised to relay the messages on to the other members of the Committee. In addition, he invited ECPAT and The Body Shop to provide input in an upcoming General Comment highlighting the role of the business sector towards protecting children. In closing, Mr Zermatten praised Anna-Maria Khramchenkova for speaking so well on behalf of her peers and for succeeding in getting her message through to the Committee.








 



On 29 September, right outside the UN Human Rights Council chamber in the Palais des Nations, where the campaign exhibition was displayed, ECPAT and The Body Shop formally presented the petition to the President of the UN Human Rights Council, Her Excellency Ms Laura Dupuy Lasserre.

Thailand’s Ambassador to the United Nations and former President of the Human Rights Council, His Excellency Mr Sihasak Phuangketkeow, opened the events with welcome remarks. He was followed by the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Dr Najat M’jid Maalla, who encouraged member states to prioritise the issue of trafficking of children and young people for sexual purposes.

Ms. Kathleen Speake of ECPAT International then relayed the campaign advocacy message that the UN Human Rights Council and its Member States should endorse the campaign’s calls to action and organise an ‘Annual Full Day Meeting’ on the rights of the child, focusing on child trafficking.

ECPAT Youth Representative, Ms Mariana Yevsyukova from Ukraine, highlighted the role of children and youth in the campaign and called for greater integration of meaningful child and youth participation at the UN Human Rights Council.

In response, Ms Dupuy Lasserre (below, second from right) welcomed the petition, stating: “This petition represents an historic occasion for the United Nations Human Rights Council to build on the notable successes of the campaign and to inspire governments to join and take action to tackle this crime in its internal and international form and work on prevention and reparation of victims.”


 

 

 







The Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People campaign has already inspired change on an unprecedented scale. Fourteen countries across the world have committed to adopting new legislation in response to this petition: Malta, Denmark, Portugal, South Africa, Malaysia, Norway, Switzerland, Pakistan, Romania, Taiwan, Ireland, Indonesia, Philippines and New Zealand.

Download UN Special Rapporteur Dr. Najat M’jid Maalla’s speech's here

Read the UN Handover publication by ECPAT Upholding Commitments to Protect Children from Trafficking