Initiative
08/26/2011
Three new countries sign the ECPAT Code of Conduct!
Germany, Fiji and New Zealand signed the NGO ECPAT's "Code of Conduct for the protection of children from sexual exploitation": 36 countries are now committed to fight against the sexual exploitation of children!
The commitment of Accor Germany
In April 2011, in honor of Earth Guest day, Germany signed the Code of Conduct by ECPAT, the international NGO that is Accor's partner in this fight.
By end of 2011, over 50% of employees will have received training with an e-learning tool in identifying risk situations and reacting to them. Flyers and posters created by students from a marketing school will be distributed and hung in hotels in order to increase guest awareness of the sexual exploitation of children.
The signature of the Code of Conduct in New Zealand and Fiji
On August 11th 2011, it was New Zealand and Fiji's turn to sign the Code. These two countries thus implement action plans to fight against sexual tourism involving children, in particular to prepare against the risks linked to the influx of tourists during the Rugby World Cup.
- In order to do so, employees in key departments (especially those in reception areas and floor teams) will take part in training sessions led by ECAP.
The objectives of these sessions are the following:
- Be able to identify a potential abuse situation
- Know how to react when facing one
- Know the internal (with heads of departments) and external procedures to be followed (with ECPAT and the local police if necessary)
Training sessions will be held every six months for new employees. Various communication tools will remind guests of the hotels' commitment and increase their awareness.
Congratulations to Fiji, Germany and New Zealand for their commitment to the fight against sexual tourism involving children!
Accor and the fight against sexual tourism involving children
Child protection is one of the Earth Guest program's 8 priorities. Since 2011, over 70 000 Accor employees have been trained in risk-prevention for sexual tourism involving children and in increasing guest awareness.
The Group commits to this by signing, country by country, the « Code of Conduct for the protection of children from sexual exploitation ». Established by the ECPAT NGO and the World Tourism Organization, the Code lays down the principles for an active policy to fight against this scourge:
- To implement a policy that fights the sexual exploitation of children
- To train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations
- To introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers, stating a common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children.
- To provide information to travellers by means of catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, etc.
- To provide information to local "key persons" at the destinations.
- To report annually
Within the Group, 36 countries are now committed to combating this scourge: Austria, Argentina, Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, France, Fiji, Germany, Ghana, Guinea-Conakry, Hungary, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Laos, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Uruguay and Vietnam.