Do you want an ethical tourism industry?
From Freedom United
| It’s World Tourism Day on Sunday and this year’s focus is on rebuilding tourism in a safe and equitable way. We are taking this opportunity to invite volunteer tour operators to reimagine what it means to do business ethically. Can you ask them to finally commit to stop offering placements in orphanages? Thanks to your efforts, Global Vision International[1] and African Impact[2] have already stopped offering placements in orphanages but we know others in the tourism industry still have work to do. Ask volunteer tour operators on Twitter and Facebook if they can take a stand against orphanage trafficking this World Tourism Day. |
| View the campaign here: |
| https://www.freedomunited.org/advocate/orphanages/ |
| Not on social media? Forward this email to your friends and family. We would all like to be certain that the tourism companies are doing everything they can to put an end to orphanage trafficking through no longer offering placements in orphanages. That’s why we are urging volunteer tour operators to take action this World Tourism Day by rebuilding a tourism industry committed to ending orphanage trafficking. |
| Earlier this year, authorities in Nigeria arrested a suspected orphanage trafficker who had reportedly kept 74 children in an institution under the guise of fostering them and providing them with an education. 11 of the children had in fact been abducted.[3] |
| Over the past year we have been encouraged by global efforts to recognize the trafficking risks associated with volunteering in orphanages. The UK government issued official travel advice warning of the harms of orphanage volunteering: |
| “By volunteering in or visiting such organisations, you may unknowingly contribute towards child exploitation and may put yourself at risk of accusations of improper behaviour.”[4] |
| And the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolutionon the rights of the child calling on member states to address the risks of orphanage tourism: |
| “The Resolution also calls upon States to take action to prevent the trafficking and exploitation of children in care facilities or otherwise deprived of parental care. This includes addressing the harms related to volunteering programs in orphanages, including in the context of tourism, which can lead to trafficking and exploitation.”[5] |
| It’s time for all volunteer tour operators to catch up. On World Tourism Day let’s keep up the pressure on the tourism industry to take a stand against orphanage trafficking. Send them a message on Twitter and Facebook today. In solidarity, Miriam and the Freedom United team |
