Child protection
According to UNICEF, 3 million minors are victims of sexual exploitation every year. This plague is causing great harm to new generations. Concerned through its hotel activity, Accor wants to fight child sex tourism by increasing awareness among its guests and by training its employees.
More than a half million children are affected in Thailand and Brazil alone. The sexual exploitation of minors affects countries in all regions of the world. Accor relies thus on its international network to relay campaigns that raise awareness about this issue.
Accor 2010 objectives
1 - Commit the hotels in Africa to sign the Code of Conduct developed by the WTO and the NGO ECPAT.
2008 yearend indicator: Accor signed the Code of Conduct for the 17 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa where the Group operates.
2 - Increase the number of hotels in Europe that have signed this Code of Conduct.
2008 yearend indicator: Since 2006, Accor has signed the Code in 4 new countries.
3 - Strengthen internal training for Group employees.
2008 yearend indicator: Over 10,000 employees are trained every year.
Achievements
- Accor has been committed since 2001 with the NGO ECPAT for the deployment of its awareness campaigns in the hotels.
- In 2008, nearly 11,700 employees were trained worldwide to recognize a typical high-risk situation. These training programs were conducted in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Singapore), Africa (Ivory Coast, Benin, Senegal, and Cameroon), Europe (Austria and Switzerland) and in the Caribbean (Dominican Republic).
- At the end of 2008, Accor was a signatory to the Code of Conduct developed by ECPAT and the WTO in 38 countries where the Group operates.
- Since 2008, Accor has held a seat on the executive committee of the Code organization. This international organization unites various partners from associations, in both the public and private sectors (tour operators, hotel groups).