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The Minister of Social Development, Dr Zola Skweyiya, has told the world that commercial sexual exploitation of children is an intolerable form of child labour and this exploitation must be fought energetically and punished severely.

"Protecting children is everybody's business; it takes a village to raise a child. We have a moral obligation as government, civil society, business, communities and citizens and indeed the entire world to ensure that our children grow up in an environment free of exploitation and abuse. While the phenomenon of sexual exploitation affects millions of girls and boys, it is our world's girl children who constitute the majority of the victims", said the Minister.

The Minister was addressing thousands of delegates at the Second World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Yokohama, Japan, from 17-20 December 2001.

Minister Skweyiya is leading a high level South African delegation to the congress.

"It is essential that we address the issue of the disintegration of moral values if we are to eradicate the abuse and exploitation of women and children. The South African Government, in partnership with civil society, is embarking of a process of moral regeneration. In this process we aim to rebuild families and communities, promote a culture of zero tolerance towards abuse and exploitation and to build the caring society envisaged in our constitution," further said the Minister.

The Minister told the congress that the in the past seven years the Government of South Africa had put in place a number of programmes to give effect to its child protection legislation and policies. These programmes are guided by the overarching National Programme of Action for Children in South Africa.

Some of the key measures include:
* Establishment of specialised sexual offences courts, one-stop crisis centres and shelters for victims of abuse, including sexual abuse
* Development of protocols for the management of child abuse and neglect by multi-disciplinary teams and our partners in civil society.
* Training service providers including police officers, judicial officers, prosecutors, social workers and health workers forms and integral part of our programme.
* We have in place a National Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect consisting of government and non-governmental organisations to develop strategies, monitor progress and advise the government.
* South Africa ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 16 June 1995
* South Africa ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in December 2000
* In November 2001, South Africa signed the Council of Europe Convention on Cyber Crime. This convention deals with international co-operation in criminalising and suppressing activities related to child pornography over the Internet. We are reviewing our legislation to ensure accession to this treaty as soon as possible
* South Africa has acceded to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and is in the process of doing so in respect of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Optional Protocol deals with the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
* In December 2000 South Africa signed the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children

The Minister reiterated the Government's commitment to further deepen the process of protecting children through poverty alleviation programmes and HIV/AIDS programmes.

The Minister recommitted the Government of South Africa to work in close partnership with the NGOs as well as co-operate with world in ensuring that commercial sexual exploitation of children and indeed all forms of abuse are eliminated.

Enquiries: Mbulelo Musi, Cell: 082 904 3395

Issued by the Ministry of Social Development, 18 December 2001