Today in Berlin at Villa Kastaia hotel the Executive Committee (ExCom) of the World Tourism Network on Child Protection by UNWTO had it’s yearly meeting on the sideline of ITB Berlin.

Attending

Chair
Carol Bellamy
Governments
H.E. Najib Balala, Minister of Tourism of Kenya
Widad Sherman, Chief of Staff, Ministry of Tourism, Kenya
Tokiaritefy Rabeson, General Director of Tourism Development, Ministry of Tourism, Madagascar
Khin Than Win, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Myanmar
Zeyar Myo Aung, Director, Tourism Promotion, Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Myanmar
Magdalena Montero, Adviser to the Minister of Tourism of Uruguay and Representative of the Regional Task Force for the Protection of Children in Travel and Tourism of the Americas (GARA)
Law Enforcement
Mohamed Basheer, Chief Inspector, Head of Family and Child Protection Department, Maldives Police Service
Private sector
Arnaud Herrmann, VP Sustainable Development, Accor Hotels
Andreas Mueseler, Chairman of the Sustainability Committee, German Travel Association (DRV)
Nikki White, Head of Destinations and Sustainability, ABTA
Elise Allart, Manager of Sustainable Development, TUI Benelux & TUI Group 2

Civil Society/NGOs
Joanna Rubinstein, President & CEO, World Childhood Foundation USA
Dorothy Rozga, Executive Director, ECPAT International
Rosa Martha Brown, President and Founder of Infantia Foundation & International Federation of Executive Women in Travel (FIASEET), Mexico
Media
Juergen Steinmetz, Publisher and President, eTurboNews
International Organizations
Beth Verhey, Senior Advisor, Children’s Rights and Business, UNICEF
Simon Steyne, Senior Adviser of the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, ILO
UNWTO Secretariat
Márcio Favilla L. de Paula, Executive Director
Marina Diotallevi, Head, Ethics and Social Responsibility Programme
Igor Stefanovic, Senior Programme Assistant, Ethics and Social Responsibility
Observer
Ms. Alice Akunga, Country Representative, UNICEF Maldives

After welcoming remarks by Márcio Favilla L. de Paula, Executive Director, UNWTO, discussed was the upcoming special session at ITB 2017 entitled; Governments as champions of child protection in tourism

Uruguay presented best practices on Tourism and prevention of sexual exploitation of children in the Americas
The Modern Slavery Act and its implications for tourism industry stakeholders was introduced by ABTA. The Approach of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) had an interesting program among its members
Further discussed: Best practices by ExCom participants: Putting child protection in the context of the Int’l Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development / implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Advancing youth empowerment through travel and tourism: UNWTO/Amadeus/Government of Kenya pilot project in Nairobi