THE YOKOHAMA GLOBAL COMMITMENT 2001
I. Our
Follow-up:
-
We, representatives from
governments, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental
organizations, the private sector, and members of civil society
from around the world, have gathered together in Yokohama,
Japan, at the 2nd World Congress against Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children (17-20 Decembert 2001) (“the Yokohama
Congress”). Five years after the first World Congress against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Stockholm,
Sweden, in 1996, we have reviewed developments as a follow-up
process to strengthen our commitment to protect children from
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.,
-
We reaffirm, as our primary
considerations, the protection and promotion of the interests
and rights of the child to be protected from all forms of sexual
exploitation, and we welcome the following developments, visible
in a number of countries, since the first World Congress:
·
the greater emphasis on the rights of
the child and the call for more effective implementation of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child by States Party to create an
environment where children are able to enjoy their rights;
·
the increasing mobilization of
governments, local authorities and the non-governmental sector, as
well as the international community, to promote and protect the
rights of the child and to empower children and their families to
safeguard their future;
·
the adoption of multi-faceted,
inter-disciplinary measures, including policies, laws, programmes,
mechanisms, resources and dissemination of the rights of the child,
to ensure that children are able to grow up in safety and dignity;
·
enhanced actions against child
prostitution, child pornography and trafficking of children for
sexual purposes, including national and international agendas,
strategies or plans of action to protect children from sexual
exploitation, and new laws to criminalize this phenomenon, including
provisions with extra-territorial effect;
·
the promotion of more effective
implementation/enforcement of policies, laws and gender-sensitive
programmes to prevent and address the phenomenon of sexual
exploitation of children, including information campaigns to raise
awareness, better educational access for children, social support
measures for families and children to counter poverty, action
against criminality and the demand for sexual exploitation of
children, and prosecution of those who exploit children;
·
the provision of child-sensitive
facilities such as telephone helplines, shelters, and judicial and
administrative procedures to prevent violations of the rights of the
child and to provide effective remedies;
·
the comprehensive, systematic and
sustained involvement of the private sector, such as workers’ and
employers’ organizations, members of the travel and tourism
industry, including Internet Service Providers and other businesses,
in enhancing child protection, including their adoption and
implementation of corporate policies and codes of conduct to protect
children from sexual exploitation;
·
greater participation by children and
young people in promoting and protecting their rights, notably
through young people’s networks and forums, and the involvement of
young people as peer communicators and counselors;
·
the development of international and
regional standards to protect children from sexual exploitation
through new instruments, including the following: the Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially
Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime (2000), and the Convention on
Cybercrime (2001), while noting relevant provisions of the Rome
Statutes of the International Criminal Court (1998);
·
the entry into force of the
International Labour Organization (ILO)’s Convention No.182
Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination
of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (complemented by ILO
Recommendation No.190) on 19 November 2000, and the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of
Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography on 18 January
2002;
·
the progress made in the preparations
for the forthcoming Special Session of the United Nations General
Assembly on Children, including its outcome document;
·
the emergence of a broader partnership
among and between local and national governments, intergovernmental
organizations, non-governmental organizations, regional/sub-regional
and international organizations, communities, and other key actors,
and closer linkage between the United Nations and other monitoring
mechanisms on the issue, especially the Committee on the Rights of
the Child and the Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography of the Commission on Human Rights
under the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
-
We take into
account with appreciation the regional consultations held in
Bangkok, Thailand; Rabat, Morocco; Dhaka, Bangladesh;
Montevideo, Uruguay; Budapest, Hungary; and Philadelphia, United
States of America (see Annex); and various national seminars
leading up to the Yokohama Congress, and related activities
including those with young people’s participation, and their
conclusions and recommendations enriching the content of our
follow-up action, and we encourage their effective
implementation by governments that have participated in them, in
partnership with stakeholders, including non-governmental
organizations, intergovernmental organizations and young people.
-
We
recognize that much more needs to be done to protect children
globally, and express our concerns at the delays in the adoption
of needed measures in various parts of the world.
II.
Our Global Commitment:
- We
have come together to:
·
reiterate
the importance and the call
for more effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child by States Party and related instruments, and underline our belief in the rights of children to be protected from
commercial sexual exploitation in the form of child prostitution,
child pornogrphy and trafficking of children for sexual purposes;
·
encourage
early ratification of the relevant international instruments, in
particular ILO Convention No.182 Concerning the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child
Labour, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography;
·
reaffirm
our commitment to build a culture of respect for all persons based
upon the principle of non-discrimination and to eliminate commercial
sexual exploitation of children, in particular by sharing the
lessons learnt since the first World Congress, and by improving
cooperation in this regard;
·
recommit
to the Declaration and Agenda for Action of the first World Congress
(“the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action”), and in
particular to developing national agendas, strategies or plans of
action, designated focal points and comprehensive
gender-disaggregated data collection, and effective implementation
of measures, including child-rights based laws and law enforcement;
·
reinforce
our efforts against commercial sexual exploitation of children, in
particular by addressing root causes that put children at risk of
exploitation, such as poverty, inequality, discrimination,
persecution, violence, armed conflicts, HIV/AIDS, dysfunctioning
families, the demand factor, criminality, and violations of the
rights of the child, through comprehensive measures including
improved educational access got children, especially girls,
anti-poverty programmes, social support measures, public awareness
raising, physical and psychological recovery and social
reintegration of child victims, and action to criminalize the
commercial sexual exploitation of children in all its forms and in
accordance with the relevant international instruments, while not
criminalizing or penalizing the child victims;
·
emphasize
that the way forward is to promote closer networking among key
actors to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children at
the international, inter-regional, regional/sub-regional, bilateral,
national and local levels, in particular, among communities and the
judicial, immigration and police authorities, as well as through
initiatives inter-linking the young people themselves;
·
ensure
adequate resource allocation to counter commercial sexual
exploitation of children, and to promote education and information
to protect children from sexual exploitation, including educational
and training programmes on the rights of the child addressed to
children, parents, law enforcers, service providers and other key
actors;
·
reiterate that an essential way of sustaining global action is through
regional/sub-regional and national agendas, strategies or plans of
action, that build on regional/sub-regional and national monitoring
mechanisms and through strengthening and reviewing existing
international mechanisms with a monitoring process, to improve their
effectiveness as well as the follow-up of their recommendations, and
to identify any reforms that might be required.;
·
take
adequate
measures to address negative aspects of new technologies, in
particular child pornography on the Internet, while recognizing the
potential of new technologies for the protection of children from
commercial sexual exploitation, through dissemination and exchange
of information and networking among partners;
·
reaffirm
the importance of family and strengthen
social protection of children, young people and families through
awareness-raising campaigns and community-based
surveillance/monitoring of commercial sexual exploitation of
children;
·
commit
ourselves to promoting cooperation at all levels and to combining
efforts to eliminate all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual
abuse of children worldwide;
·
declare
that the sexual exploitation of children must not be tolerated and pledge
to act accordingly.
Annex
¨
Regional
Commitment and Action Plan of the East Asia and Pacific Region
against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, adopted at the East
Asia and the Pacific Regional Consultation for the 2nd
World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,
held in Bangkok 16-18 October 2001
¨
Declaration of
the Arab-African Forum against Sexual Exploitation of Children,
adopted at the Arab-African Forum against Sexual Exploitation of
Children, held in Rabat 24-26 October 2001
¨
South
Asia Strategy, adopted at the South Asia Consultation for the 2nd
World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,
held in Dhaka 4-6 November 2001
¨
Commitment
to a Strategy against Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Other Forms
of Sexual Violence against Children and Adolescents in the Latin
American-Caribbean Region, adopted at the Inter-American Congress against Sexual
Exploitation of Children, held in Montevideo 7-9 November 2001
¨
Commitment and
Plan of Action for Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation
in Europe and Central Asia, adopted at the Conference on the
Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation, held in Budapest
20-21 November 2001
¨
Recommendation
from the Regional Consultation on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children in Canada, Mexico and United States of America, held in
Philadelphia 2-3 December 2001
¨
Declaration
and Agenda for Action, adopted at the World Congress against Commercial
Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm 27-31 August
1996.
Appendix: Explanatory Statements
The following documents were submitted to the
Chair at the conclusion of the Second World Congress against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.
¨
European countries:
Explanatory declaration on the Yokohama Global Commitment
¨
The United States of
America
¨
Republic of India
¨
Islamic Republic of Iran
¨
Arab and African States
participating in the conference
European countries:
Explanatory declaration on the Yokohama Global Commitment
The
European countries, as well as all countries meeting together in
Yokohama, consider that the protection of the child is a major
challenge of civilization based on the responsibility of adults
concerning young generations and the values on which they will build
the mankind of future.
Through
this explanatory declaration and referring to the Commitment and
Plan of Action adopted on 21 November 2001 in Budapest, and to the
Recommendation (2001) 16 of the Council of Europe
concerning the protection of children against sexual
exploitation adopted on 31 October 2001, the European countries
reaffirm their attachment to the following principles:
1.
The fight against sexual exploitation is extended to
all forms of sexual violence and sexual abuse.
2.
The protection of the child includes all boys and
girls up to the age of 18 in all countries.
3.
The noticeable commitment of some countries to the
prosecution of those
who sexually exploit children, the broadening of criminal offences
to the various forms of sexual exploitation of children, including
its international and transnational aspects, by establishing
extra-territorial responsibility, and recognizing the relationship
between organized crime and many forms of sexual exploitation of
children.
4.
The actions concerning the protection of the child
need to be conducted in close cooperation with civil society.
5.
The fight against poverty as well as the improvement
of health and education of children must be a major priority.
The
European countries request that the Heads and representatives of
State and governments who will meet next May on the occasion of the
United Nations Special
Session on Children, take into account the will to act and progress
as expressed during the 2nd World Congress in Yokohama.
They also encourage all countries to consider to ratify, sign,
accede and fully implement the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child and its second Optional Protocol on the Sale of
Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.
The
United States of America
The
United States is pleased to join the consensus on the Yokohama
outcome document for the 2nd World Congress on the
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. We would again like to
thank particularly the Government of Japan for hosting and
co-sponsoring this extraordinary event.
This
conference has provided an important opportunity to review the
actions the world has taken since Stockholm and to recommit
ourselves to national and international actions to eliminate the
commercial sexual exploitation of children.
One
important area that we would like to highlight concerns the
increased protections provided to children under the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of
Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and ILO
Convention No.182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. The Sale of
Children Protocol, unlike the Convention itself, requires that
States Party criminalize all activities relating to prostitution and
pornography with children under the age of 18, without reference to
state law or the age of sexual consent. ILO 182 further requires
that States Party “take effective and time-bound measures to
ensure access to free basic education and, wherever possible,
appropriate vocational training, for all children removed from the
worst forms of child labor”, which includes child prostitution and
child pornography.
The
United States believes that the Optional Protocol and ILO 182
provide a clear starting point for international action concerning
the elimination of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The
United States was one of the first countries to ratify ILO
Convention 182 in December of 1999. Moreover, the Bush
Administration has turned its immediate attention to ratification of
the Optional Protocol.
Islamic
Republic of Iran
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The
delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the 2nd
World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
would like to state the following remarks as its position regarding
the final document of the Congress, entitled
“The Yokohama Global Commitment 2001”.
The
Islamic Republic of Iran considers the above-mentioned document as
an important and valuable initiative designed to further contribute
to combat the evil phenomenon of commercial sexual exploitation of
children. The Yokohama document, while referring to the progress
made since the first World Congress, provides for further and
strengthened commitments on the part of all stakeholders, in
particular the governments and non-governmental organizations, for
the years ahead. Nevertheless, in the view of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, such a significant document needed to be negotiated in a
more transparent and participatory manner as any document of
international character and universal value.
Moreover,
the Islamic Republic of Iran rejects the concept of
extraterritoriality, wherever appears in the above-said document, as
being too broad and inconsistent with international law. In this
context, Iran believes that laws and policies of all countries, in
combating the crime of commercial sexual exploitation, should be fully respected and
should by no means be substituted by the application of
extraterritorial laws and measures.
The
Islamic Republic of Iran is also of view that, in order to reinforce
the efforts against commercial
sexual exploitation of children, all actions must be taken to
criminalize such an evil phenomenon
in all its forms and manifestations, and the status of child
victims should be given due consideration.
The
Iranian delegation requires the Secretariat of the 2nd
World Congress to include the aforesaid remarks to the final report
of the Congress as the position of the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
Republic
of India
The Yokohama Global Commitment 2001:
Written Statement by
Republic of India
India
endorses the Yokohama Global Commitment 2001, which presents a
coherent and vibrant framework for action at national, regional and
international levels to eradicate commercial sexual exploitation of
children (CSEC). As suggested by the countries of the South Asia
region, at regional consultations in Dhaka (4-6 November 2001), it
is desirable to set up international and regional mechanisms to
continually take stock of the progress in the fight against CSEC.
The
crime of CSEC respects no national boundaries. It is imperative that
States cooperate in bringing the offenders to justice. It is our
understanding that the reference to extra-territorial criminal laws
in the Stockholm Declaration [Para 3(e)] and the Yokohama Global
Commitment [Para 2, Bullet No.4] is intended to ensure that the
offender is tried in the country in whose jurisdiction the offence
is committed; if he cannot be so tried by virtue of his being not
present in that country and his being not extradited for facing
trial, he is tried in the country of which he is a national or in
the country of which he is a habitual resident or in the country
where he is present. The cardinal principle is that the offender
does not go scot-free. We also note that this intention is reflected
in the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography.
It
is necessary to develop international principles, norms and
procedures so as to avoid overlapping jurisdictions. It is also
desirable to develop frameworks for enhanced regional
and international mutual assistance for investigation and
criminal proceedings regarding “extra territorial” CSEC
offenders. To this end, we hope mechanisms would soon fall in
place and further consultations are organized.
Arab
and African States participating in the conferences
To
include in the appendix reference to the following documents:
¨
The African Common Position and the report of the
Pan-African Forum on the future of Children, Cairo, 28-31 May 2001.
It includes the report of the Organization of African Unity’s
conference on African children in situations of armed conflicts.
¨
The Arab Common Position document adopted by the
Arab high-level conference of the League of Arab States, Cairo, 2-4
July 2001.
This
proposal is submitted on behalf of Arab and African States
participating in the conferences.
On their behalf, the
delegation of Egypt,
Head of Delegation
Ambassador
Moushira Khattab.
Similar proposals were submitted in handwriting
by a number of delegations including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Sudan.
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