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Building
a better world This is the opening statement made by the young participants at the Mid Term Review of The Yokohama Global Commitment, which specially focused on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC). The first world congress against CSEC, held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1996, was the first initiative to address this gross violation of children’s rights. In 2001, the second world congress against CSEC was convened in Yokohama, Japan, as part of the process to review developments since the first world congress. The Mid Term Review (MTR) of the Yokohama Global Commitment convened this year, looked into the promises made and promises forgotten during the previous world summits against CSEC. The event was attended by government officials of eight South Asian countries, including Afghanistan, representatives from UN agencies and several NGOs who met at Hotel Taj Samudra, Colombo, from September 27 to October 1. Although the world is not immune to the issue of CSEC, South Asia had become the worst affected region in the world. This makes the future of young South Asia more vulnerable and uncertain. But the young people of this region had the opportunity to talk to leaders of the region, including the leaders of their own countries, to urge the governments to do something to secure the future of their own. One not only gets the chance of talking to the leaders of the region, but also recommends the governments to implement concrete actions that will prevent children falling prey to sexual exploitation. “The participation of children and young people in the process affecting their lives is provided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” said Archana Tamang, Save The Children, Regional Allince Programme Coordinator, adding, “As much as possible, space was created for them to participate meaningfully in the discussion with the adults. They were a part of the country level action plan formulation and also a part of the Drafting Committee, giving their input into the Final Regional Statement.” The Sri Lankan delegation comprised four young participants namely, Fathima Asmiya, Chandana Silva, Chalani Silva and Rusiru Tharindu Abeysinghe, as the facilitator. They were selected through different local NGOs in Sri Lanka. “The MTR was extremely productive considering the children and young people had to come up with their ideas and make their recommendations to the governments to combat CSEC, abuse and trafficking of children,” said Rusiru, from S. Thomas’ College. Having the same view as Rusiru, Yohana Fernando, a former student of Methodist College, said that participating in such a meeting was a great opportunity that Sri Lankans don’t get often. Chandana Silva and Fathima Asmiya agreed that this conference gave a great chance to understand the grave problem of CSEC and trafficking. Chalani Peiris, a year 10 student from Soysa Maha Vidyalaya, Moratuwa said, “We got the opportunity to talk, but unlike other countries we didn’t have many issues to raise.” According to the UNICEF deputy regional director, Esther Guluma, Sri Lanka is different from the other countries in South Asia. “Sri Lanka is the pioneer in the region. When we discuss prevention we say that education is the most important area of prevention. Sri Lanka has the best social indicators in the region and it includes education. So as I see it in Sri Lanka, there is lot of hope in terms of prevention and protection of children. But there is always work to be done with regard to the prevention of trafficking in Sri Lanka and we openly have to expand the national plan of action,” warns Ms. Guluma. The outcome of the MTR at the young participants level, concluded with a strong will to create a national as well as regional task force of children. The government of Sri Lanka promised to promote life skills education, make education compulsory upto O/Ls, set aside a special day in the courts in order to hear child abuse, exploitation and trafficking cases (no other cases will be heard on that day), create a children’s task force at community level, which would report to the district and then to the National Child Protection Authority. One of the key regional outcomes of the MTR at ministerial level is to, “Keep at the top of the agenda the importance of working with children and young participants to ensure their insights are included in policy formation for better process.” Thirteen-year-old Afghan delegate, Noorjahan says, “This is the first time, I’ve been to Sri Lanka and this conference is very good. Our children have participated in the event and have said everything we wanted to.” Dawa Chuki (17), from Bhutan says, “This conference is very informative and interactive. We get to share lots of ideas, which I think we can take back to our country and implement. From, my point of view, I gained a lot of knowledge, which I would be able to disseminate to all my friends.” Shehriyar Khan, the translator for the Pakistani delegation finds “adults listening to children and acting accordingly” very interesting. Much had been discussed and debated about the issue of CSEC and trafficking. Every country that participated in this MTR of the Yokohama Global Commitment identified the gravity of this issue. The children and young participants will now engage in a different voyage with their respective governments, NGOs and other stakeholders back at home to plan the way forward to the implementation of commitments made in this conference. |
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