UNICEF Activities
World Congress against Commercial Exploitation of Children.
The Government of Sweden, UNICEF and ECPAT (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism)
have jointly sponsored a World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children. The Congress drew 1,000 government officials, intergovernmental
representatives, international jurists and child care experts to Stockholm from
27-31 August 1996 to discuss the many issues involved in the commercial sexual
exploitation of children, and to identify the resources and plans of action that
would be necessary to effectively combat this perverse state of affairs.
In preparation for the Congress, the Government of Sweden, UNICEF and ECPAT
approached WCRP to assist them in preparing background papers and in taking
leadership for a plenary panel for the Congress on human values. Background
papers were prepared for a joint WCRP/UNICEF preparatory meeting in March by
WCRP Presidents Dr. Elizabeth Bowen, Rev. Tatsuo Miyake, Archbishop John Onaiyekan,
and Ms. Saba Risaluddin. In Stockholm, the WCRP delegation was led by Dr. William
Vendley, who was joined by WCRP Presidents Archbishop Onaiyekan and Ms. Risaluddin,
and also by Ms. Beepali Bhanot of the WCRP International Women’s Co-ordinating Committee.
WCRP made available to the Congress copies of a 110 page book titled Multireligious
Response Against the Commercial Exploitation of Children. which included the
papers and proceedings of the preparatory meeting held jointly by WCRP and UNICEF
in March in New York. WCRP was also able to make available to the Congress participants
a pamphlet titled Children and Sexual Exploitation, which was adopted by the Governing
Board of WCRP International as an official multireligious statement of the Governing
Board against the commercial sexual exploitation of children. WCRP’s contributions
to the Congress were described as follows: "Thanks to the pioneering and persistent
work of WCRP, a new openness toward the issues of beliefs, values, religion and
development seem to be emerging."
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