Second World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

From 17th to 20th, 2001, Yokohama, Japan

As of 7 February 2002

The Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (The Yokohama Congress) was held from 17th to 20th December, 2001, in Yokohama, Japan, by the Government of Japan in cooperation with UNICEF, ECPAT International and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Congress began with the opening remarks by the representative of the host country, Ms Tanaka, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan in the morning of 17th December. Following her opening remarks, Ms. Tanaka served as the chairperson of the Opening Ceremony of the Congress, where Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado and Her Majesty Queen Sylvia of Sweden, the host country of the First Congress, made their welcome/honourable speech. In the Opening Session, the representative of the co-organizers and the children/youth made Keynote Addresses; Ms. Moriyama, the Minister of Justice, from UNICEF, Ms. Bellamy, the Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms. de Linde, Chairperson of ECPAT International and Ms. Kingsley, NGO Group on the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

In this Congress, 3050 persons from 136 Governments, 148 NGOs from abroad, 135 Japanese NGOs and 23 International organizations and others participated. 90 children/youth from all over the world also participated in this Congress.

The Yokohama Congress was composed of General Debate (Statements by Governments, International Organizations, etc), 3 Panel Discussions and 107 Workshops, organized by International Organizations and NGOs, related to the 6 main themes of the Congress, "Child Pornography", "Prevention, Protection and Recovery of Children from Sexual Exploitation", "Trafficking in Children", "Role and Involvement of the Private Sector", "Legislation and Law Enforcement" and "The Profile of the Sex Exploiter".

On the last day of the Congress, Mr. Hashimoto, former Prime Minister and the president of the Parliamentary League for UNICEF, made closing remarks, followed by the report of the General Rapporteur of the Congress, Prof. Muntarbohrn, of the Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, who summarized the discussions in the panels and workshops and suggested future orientations for the actions to be taken for the eradication of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Then children/youth made final appeal before the adoption of "The Yokohama Global Commitment 2001", which calls on the international community to promote further their actions towards the eradication of the child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking in children for the purpose of sexual exploitation. This outcome document, which is one of the most important international documents in this field, will serve guidelines for actions to fight against commercial sexual exploitation of children.

As the first large-scale international conference on children in the 21 century, this Congress will be remembered as an important milestone in the efforts to promote actions by the governments to ensure the dignity and happiness of children, who bear the future of the mankind.

More than 3000 persons participated in this Congress and built networks and partnerships among various stakeholders including governments, NGOs, International Organizations. Among others, the foremost character of this Congress was that it was co-organized by government, NGOs and International Organization.

This Congress also contributed to mobilizing regional activities through its regional consultations in 6 regions in the world. Through this process, the Congress was able to reflect situations or problems peculiar to each region.

Another important achievement of the Congress was the active participation of children and youth. Prior to the Congress, they had their own programmes in Kawasaki (from 13th to 16th December) and intensively discussed their actions to tackle these problems. In the Congress, children and youth organized a Round Table to exchange their views with the participants from International Organizations, governments and members of parliament. The result of their discussions and opinions are presented at the plenary of the closing session, in the form of performance on stage and "Final Appeal of Children/Youth."

This Congress is expected to contribute to the United Nations Special Session on Children, scheduled from 8th to 10th May 2002, and the Government of Japan is committed to further promote and protect the rights of the child.