The Code against Child Sex Exploitation

We are proud to say that we are one of the first tour operators in South Africa that has signed the Code against child sex exploitation in tourism.

The Tourism Child Protection Code of Conduct, “The Code”, is an instrument of self-regulation and corporate social responsibility, which provides increased protection to children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism. The Code was developed as a project to engage the tourism private sector in preventing and combating sexual exploitation in travel and tourism. Almost 1000 companies have already signed the Code of Conduct across the globe. The initiative, which started as a project of ECPAT International, has been endorsed by the United Nations-World Tourism Organization (UN-WTO) and many national governments. One of the main ECPAT activities is to support the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.

Abang Africa Travel and Trust proudly became a signatory to the Code on 9 June, 2010. As a signatory, our organization pledges to commit itself to the 6 criteria as defined in the Code. As the mission of Abang Africa is:

“To use Responsible Tourism as a Sustainable Development tool for the people in Southern Africa; benefiting local communities and visitors, through sharing and mutual understanding, empowerment and sustainable partnerships”, it is important that Abang Africa addresses current issues that are directly related to being responsible within the tourism industry. One of these issues is the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. Abang Africa was exposed to this issue by the Fair Trade in Tourism organization, which contacted us and asked if we were interested in becoming involved in fighting this issue. After becoming more informed on the seriousness of this issue and the ability we have to make a difference, we were motivated to become a signatory of the Code. As an organization within the tourism industry we are one of the key actors with the ability to concretely contribute to raise awareness, take active measures, and ultimately reduce the serious issue of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. Our involvement is essential!