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[STK]
[IN] TRA LEI HRT
[SU] CSR
-- WITH PHOTO -- TO BUSINESS EDITORS:
The Code to Attend World's Leading Travel Tradeshow ITB Berlin to
Promote Responsible Tourism Initiative Aimed at Protecting Children
BERLIN, March 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, an estimated 2 million
children are sexually exploited in contexts of travel and tourism.
Offenders travel to developing countries where poverty, weak law
enforcement, and low awareness of the crime leave children more
vulnerable. Child sexual abusers may utilize tourism infrastructure
such as hotels, restaurants, and transport, meaning tourism staff are
in a unique position to help keep children safe.
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140304/PH75852
The Code is a voluntary code of conduct for the protection of children
in travel and tourism. As an industry-led responsible tourism
initiative, The Code provides awareness, tools and support to tourism
companies to help end the sexual exploitation of children in contexts
of travel and tourism. Member companies sign The Code and agree to
take six concrete actions that will help to keep children safe,
including implementing child protection policies and procedures and
training staff how to recognize and report suspected abuse.
From March 5 - 9, 2014, The Code will be attending ITB Berlin, the
world's leading travel trade show, to raise awareness of the global
problem of child sex tourism, showcase the inspiring work of the
hundreds of tourism companies around the world who are already taking
action, and recruit new companies to join the program.
The Code's presence at ITB Berlin is sponsored as part of a
development partnership with Code member companies Kuoni, Accor
Hotels, TUI Travel, and ITB Messe as part of the develoPPP.de
programme that Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
(GIZ) implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Over the last year an online
training program has been designed through the partnership to help
tourism staff learn how to recognize and report cases of child sexual
abuse. Ten training modules have been developed using scenarios
relevant to diverse tourism staff functions, from cleaners to
management. The training is now available in 10 languages with more
translations planned for 2014. Last year 129,156 tourism staff around
the world were trained through The Code, forming a global tourism
defence force for the protection of children.
During ITB, responsible tourism companies are invited to visit The
Code's at booth 219 in Hall 4.1 to experience the interactive training
for themselves and learn more about the benefits of joining The Code
and adding child protection to their company's repertoire of
responsible tourism initiatives.
Matthias Leisinger is both Head of Corporate Responsibility at Kuoni
Group, Switzerland's largest travel company, and Top Member of The
Code, and Chairman of The Code's Board of Directors. He explains, "It
is important that staff learn how to recognise abuse and also that
they feel empowered to speak up when they see something untoward. The
actions companies take when joining The Code have been special
designed to weave child protection into the heart of company practice.
It's about companies taking real action to benefit real children."
Contact Cassandra Chapman Email M: +669 2435 6945
www.thecode.org
Read more news from The Code.
SOURCE The Code
-0- 03/04/2014
/Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140304/PH75852
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
/Web Site: http://www.thecode.org
CO: The Code
ST: Germany
IN: TRA LEI HRT
SU: CSR
PRN
-- PH75852 --
0000 03/04/2014 13:40:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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