Cambodia's Tourism Ministry on Thursday launched a new and comprehensive action program in its bid to pursue "child safe tourism" policies to prevent trafficking in children and young women for labor and sexual exploitation.

Under the plan, a public awareness campaign on "Child Safe Tourism" will be rolled out across the country. The main target audience of the advocacy campaign will be the 4.25 million internal tourists who outnumber international visitors by a margin of four to one. The main beneficiaries will be young people drawn to the growing industry in search of work.

A strategic plan of action, a set of operational guidelines and training manuals to promote the country's "Child Safe Tourism" program are being developed by the Tourism Ministry with the support of the International labor Organization (ILO)'s Mekong Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women (TICW project).

The activities will focus on countering trafficking for labor and sexual exploitation in some of the most vulnerable areas of the service and tourism sectors, namely restaurants, hotels, guest houses and entertainment venues where young people are sometimes exposed to exploitation by job brokers, employers and co-workers.

Meanwhile, employers and workers will receive training in how to avoid exploitative situations in the workplace. The Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training will work together to monitor workplaces.

"The majority of tourists arrived to Cambodia have visited the beautiful scenery, long term tradition..., however, the minority of tourists have spoilt and polluted the safe natural environment, cultural heritage...," said Nuth Nin Doeurn, acting minister of tourism at the launching ceremony Thursday.

"Labor and sexual abuses and trafficking on children and women is the negative impact that we have to take tough and urgent measures in preventing and combating the human trafficking especially children and women," he added.

Thetis Mangahas, chief technical advisor of ILO, said that " young people can indeed find new jobs in the tourism sector but there is evidence that some of them find themselves forced into abusive situations such as prostitution and labor exploitation through trickery, deceit and other forms of coercion."

She said ILO supports the ministry's efforts to raise awareness of both employers and potential young employees in Cambodia of ways to avoid risky and abusive situations.

A Child Safe Tourism Commission was already set up by the Ministry of Tourism, and the secretariat of the commission will be responsible for the implementation of this action program.

Cambodia's tourism industry has gone from strength to strength in recent years and is emerging as one of the country's fastest growing economic sectors. The number of international visitors has increased dramatically in 2004, contributing significantly to national incomes and creating over 180,000 jobs.

The tourism sector attracted 777 million US dollars in 2004 and was responsible for a 12 percent share of the country's GDP, according to Tourism Ministry. In the first eight months of 2005, the number of international tourists to Cambodia was 912,490, remarkably increasing 38.13 percent compared to the same period of 2004.

The Cambodian government has considered tourism one of its six priority sectors in pushing economic growth, which plays the key role in poverty alleviation.

Source: Xinhua