In 2022, the Committee on the Rights of the Child celebrates the 20th anniversary of the coming into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC), which took place on 18 January 2002. The Committee, in collaboration with the Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence Against Children, the Slavery Fund, Child Rights Connect and ECPAT, is convening a public online celebration that brings together children, members of the Committee, States, NGOs, National Human Rights Institutions, professionals working on children’s rights and other interested stakeholders, to reflect on the achievements of the OPSC in the past 20 years, and what is needed to secure its implementation within the current context, both with respect to digital advances, travel and tourism, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sale and sexual exploitation of children. 

The ninety-minute event will follow the format of:

1. “Moving from ratification to implementation in the digital age” – Roundtable discussion (70 minutes).
   
   In a roundtable moderated by 2 co-facilitators, a conversation will take place between the speakers, alternating between adults and child advocates. Emphasizing concrete examples of good practices, the discussion will include emerging forms of exploitation due to the digital environment and within the context of travel and tourism, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on increasing children’s risk to sale and sexual exploitation, the heightened risk faced by particular groups of children, including migrant, refugee and displaced children, the gender dimensions of sexual offences against children, access to complaint mechanisms and remedy, including direct relief provided by the Slavery Fund, and the establishment of continuous child participation processes in the development of prevention, protection and rehabilitation measures.
    
2. The screening of a video from the Voices of Survivors project
   (5 minutes).
   
   Showcasing the recommendations and powerful quotes of the survivors of online sexual exploitation.
    
3. Interactive session with the audience (15 minutes).

List of speakers:

• Co-Moderator: Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Ms. Mikiko Otani
• Co-Moderator: Founder of One Child, Ms. Cheryl Perera
• UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Ms. Mama Fatima Singhateh
• UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, Ms. Najat Maala M’jid
• Grantee of the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Mr. Emmanuel Drewery, Executive Director of PREDA (Philippines)
• Head of Security, Hotel Santa Clara, Cartagena (Colombia), Mr. Joaquín Sabach
• Mr. Suamhirs Piraino-Guzman, Representative of the Board of Trustees, UN Voluntary Trust Fund for on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
• Global Head of Safety, Meta, Ms. Antigone Davis
• Child advocates from: Bolivia, Canada, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Trinidad and Tobago
• High-level statement: H.E. Kozo Honsei, Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Japan to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva

Concept notes and flyer

• Child Friendly Concept Note in English | Français | Español
• Concept note in English | Français | Español
• Flyer in English

For further information on the event, please contact: [email protected]

On child safeguarding issues for the event, please contact: [email protected]

Simultaneous interpretation into English, French and Spanish, generously financed by the Government of Japan

Related links

• Committee on the Rights of the Child
• OP on Sale of Children
• OPSC Guidelines
• Explanatory Report to the Guidelines regarding the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
• Terminology Guidelines for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Luxembourg Guidelines)