Commissioner of Youth & Economic Affairs Maria Buncamper-Molanus welcomes the initiative of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the International Task Force for the Protection of Children in Tourism, to raise the profile of children who are being exploited.
A total of 218 million children are estimated to be engaged in labour world wide, while millions are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, according to the International Labour Organization.
The campaign geared at combating child labour, sexual exploitation and trafficking of children, is being promoted under the banner, "Protect Children from exploitation in Travel and Tourism."
The travel industry is being encouraged by the UNWTO to enforce its Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and protect children against harm.
The campaign was formally launched on Universal Children’s Day, on Thursday
A number of activities have been organized to recognize Universal Children’s Day with the observance of the Rights of the Child under the theme, "Listen to your Children."
"No stone must be left unturned in fighting the exploitation of children. Education is the key of the future. I am calling on parents as partners in education, to closely monitor their children.
"Parents have to listen to their children. By listening you are able to understand and comprehend the issues that they have and you are able to help them by giving advice in order to avoid the problem becoming a crisis.
"As a nation, and in particularly as parents, we need to build self esteem and their personal standards based on good morals and values which is an integral part of their upbringing. I encourage parents to get involved with their schools parents-teachers associations as well, because in partnership we are able to promote a better outcome for our children," Commissioner of Youth & Economic Affairs Maria Buncamper-Molanus told the Government Information Service (GIS) on Friday.