PRESS RELEASE
Sofia, 4th December 2015
A groundbreaking cooperation between Novotel / ibis Sofia and ECPAT Bulgaria for increasing public awareness and fight against sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism
As the socially responsible leaders of the hospitality business, Novotel and ibis Sofia, part of the Orbis Hotel Group have signed a groundbreaking document for the hospitality industry in Bulgaria, namely the Code of Conduct aimed at protecting children against sexual abuse in travel industry.
Every year, as many as 1.8 million children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation worldwide. Some are exploited by tourists or travellers, some are trafficked into sexual slavery and millions of images of child sexual abuse circulate daily on the internet.
Every year only a small number of the abusers get arrested and an even lower number are convicted.
ECPAT International (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) is an international non-government organization with a network of 85 entities in more than 77 countries dedicated to protecting children and to end all forms of the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
Since the early 1990s, ECPAT International have worked with the tourism and travel industry around the world to raise awareness and to take practical measures against children being sexually abused. Partnerships have been established with the industry stakeholders including the implementation of Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. The Code is an industry-driven, multi-stakeholder initiative with the mission to provide awareness, tools and support to the tourism industry in order to combat the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism. Industry players that adopt and sign the Code of Conduct commit to inform customers and staff on their child protection policies, report potential cases and apply other measures to protect children.
In Bulgaria, ЕСРАТ is represented by Neglected Children Society – ЕСРАТ Bulgaria. In the frame of an EU project namely “Don’t look away!”, financed by the European Union in cooperation with 16 ECPAT organizations in Europe, with the support of Interpol and Europol, a European online platform: www.reportchildsextourism.eu has been launched. The platform enables online signaling for noticed suspicious cases of sexual exploitation of children from travelers and tourists in their own country and abroad.
ЕСРАТ Bulgaria, www.ecpat-bg.com, the Bulgarian representative of ЕСРАТ International, is organizing a national campaign for increasing public awareness for the risks of sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism. A major part of this campaign are Novotel and ibis Sofia, members of the well known international hotel brands of AccorHotels – the world’s leading hotel operator, partner of ЕСРАТ International and the World Tourism Organization (WTO) for many years in their fight against sexual child abuse. The protection of children constitutes one of the CSR commitments of the leading hotel operator, providing best practices in terms of prevention for the hotel sector. Together with its partners the Group wants to educate, inform and raise awareness on how to fight against this inacceptable issue and how to protect children. “It was Novotel and ibis Sofia who initiated the signing of the Code of Conduct in Bulgaria, which is a milestone in raising awareness amongst the public and the hospitality industry on the problem of combating sexual exploitation of children” – added Lydia Zagorova, Chairwoman of Neglected Children Society.
AccorHotels contributes by education of its employees for detecting and reporting cases of sexual exploitation of children in tourism and hospitality and informing hotel guests for the policy of AccorHotels for fighting this practice. AccorHotels via its broad network of brands worldwide – ibis, Novotel, Mercure, Sofitel and others, has officially stated its will to support the cause by signing the Code of Conduct for protection of children from sexual exploitation in tourism. Orbis Hotel Group, strategic partner and the sole master licensor of all AccorHotels brands in Eastern Europe with its largest network of 107 hotels in the region aims to be the CSR trendsetter in hospitality. The Group has a strong and long-standing commitment towards social responsibility where child protection is identified among priorities and is an integral part in its Ethics and CSR Charter. “For nearly 3 years, we have been leading a prevention programme in this regard, which requires not just interdisciplinary cooperation between hotels, Police, and the NGO, but most importantly, regular trainings, education, and an information policy. Only such comprehensive activities will allow for the conscientious implementation of provisions of The Code of Conduct.” – commented Irek Weglowski, Vice President of Orbis Hotel Group.
As part of the Don’ look away ! campaign, ЕСРАТ Bulgaria created a dedicated national online form for reporting suspicious cases of possible child abuse for sexual purposes: http://www.ecpat-bg.com/?page_id=4025. The form has direct connection with the European online platform, and is linked with the police in Bulgaria. The form can be used all over Europe by sending a report to each of the European countries participating in the online platform: www.reportchildsextourism.eu
Novotel and ibis Sofia are the first hotels in Bulgaria to officially state their support for the fight against sexual child exploitation, specifically in the frame of the project DON’T LOOK AWAY! and are good examples for the other members of the tourism and hotel industry.
About ECPAT Bulgaria:
ECPAT Bulgaria – Neglected Children Society (NCS) is a non-profit NGO and ECPAT International national branch for Bulgaria. ECPAT International is a global network of organisations working together for the elimination of child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purposes. It seeks to ensure that children everywhere enjoy their fundamental rights free and secure from all forms of commercial sexual exploitation.
The objectives of ECPAT Bulgaria are: prevention and protection of children at risk of abuse, neglect and trafficking for the purposes of labour and sexual exploitation; contributing to the safe psychological recovery and social integration of children – victims of sexual exploitation; methodological guidance, training and supervision of professionals who work in the field of child protection and delivering social services given to children at risk; surveys, situational analyses; public awareness campaigns, advocacy. The organisation includes experts on child protection issues who work on voluntary basis and volunteers – young people, former victims of sexual exploitation.
Neglected Children Society – ECPAT Bulgaria is a member of ECPAT International and EU Civil Society Platform against Trafficking in Human Beings.
Neglected Children Society has more than 15 years of experience, working on the problems of prevention and counteracting different forms of child sexual exploitation.
As ECPAT Bulgaria – national affiliate of ECPAT International, NCS has implemented numerous projects both at national and international level. Over the years the organization has carried out capacity building trainings, awareness campaigns advocacy events, direct psychological support to children – victims of trafficking and exploitation and has supported the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach to fighting child trafficking, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children.
As part of the European “Don’t look away!” campaign, ЕСРАТ Bulgaria organized a national public awareness campaign about prevention of child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism. In that process ECPAT Bulgaria established close cooperation and partnership with Novotel and ibis Sofia, becaming a major part of this campaign as members of the well known international brands of AccorHotels.
About Novotel:
Novotel is the midscale hotel brand of AccorHotels, the world’s leading hotel operator, present in 92 countries with 3,800 hotels and 180,000 employees. Novotel’s consistently high standard of service contributes to the wellbeing of both business and leisure travelers: think spacious, modular-design guestrooms, balanced cuisine available 24/7, excellent meeting facilities, attentive staff, dedicated children’s areas and rejuvenating wellness facilities. With PLANET 21, AccorHotels’ sustainable development program, Novotel commits itself to the planet! To meet today’s challenging environmental and social issues, the brand has chosen to rely on a world renowned environmental certification, ISO 14001. Novotel offers more than 400 hotels and resorts in 59 countries, situated in the center of major international cities from business districts to tourist destinations. More information at: www.novotel.com
About ibis:
As one of the economy brands of AccorHotels, the world’s leading hotel operator active in 92 countries with 3,800 hotels, ibis has more than 1,000 hotels and 131,000 rooms in 61 countries. The brand innovates constantly to illustrate its values of modernity, comfort and availability. For example, it has created the revolutionary bedding concept Sweet BedTM by ibis; new common areas; the Ibis Kitchen modern food and beverage offer. It also cultivates a spirit of service that drives each of its employees. Ibis is the first hotel brand to have obtained ISO 9001 certification – all of the network is practically certified – for its professionalism and reliability. In addition, 72% of the ibis network is ISO 14001-certified, concrete proof of the brand’s environmental commitment. Created in 1974, today ibis is European leader in economy hotels and in 4th place in its category worldwide. For more information about the ibis hotels, please visit: www.ibis.com
About Orbis:
The Orbis Hotel Group is the largest network of hotels in Poland and in Eastern Europe. Orbis comprises more than 100 hotels and is the sole licensor of all AccorHotels brands in 16 countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. It offers a total of almost 19,000 rooms. The hotels operate under the brand names Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, ibis, ibis Styles and ibis budget. These brands, recognized throughout the world, provide a quality of service to various standards, ranging from luxury 5-star to budget 1-star hotels.
Orbis’ strategic investor is AccorHotels, the world’s leading hotel operator.
About Accor:
AccorHotels is a Group united by a shared passion for hospitality and driven by a shared promise to make everyone Feel Welcome.
Over 180,000 women and men in 3,800 AccorHotels establishments look after thousands of guests every day in 92 countries.
AccorHotels is the world’s leading hotel operator and offers its customers, partners and employees:
– its dual expertise as a hotel operator and franchisor (HotelServices) and a hotel owner and investor (HotelInvest);
– a large portfolio of internationally renowned brands covering the full spectrum, with luxury (Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure, The Sebel), midscale (Novotel, Suite Novotel, Mercure, Mama Shelter, Adagio) economy (ibis, ibis Styles, ibis budget, adagio access and hotelF1) establishments;
– a powerful marketplace and loyalty program Le Club AccorHotels;
– almost half a century of commitment to corporate citizenship and solidarity with the PLANET 21 program.
Accor SA shares are listed on the Euronext Paris exchange (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and traded in the USA on the OTC marketplace (Code: ACRFY).
Follow Accor оn: www.twitter.com/accorhotelsgroup; www.accorhotels-group.com;
www.accorhotels.com