China

CHINA’S NATIONAL CHILDREN’S FORUM

“WE DON’T NEED TO WAIT UNTIL WE ARE GROWN UP TO CHANGE THE WORLD!”

24-29 JULY, BEIJING, CHINA

From the terraced countryside of Yunnan Province to the rapidly expanding industrial zones of the Eastern Seaboard, Chinese children – aged 11 through 17 – have come together to craft the country’s first set of recommendations to combat human trafficking – drafted exclusively by and for young people.

The children traveled to Beijing from a total of nine provinces. All 38 of the young participants had pervious experience working with anti-trafficking projects. The children had a high-level dialogue with the senior Government officials who are responsible for anti-trafficking policies on prevention and enforcement.

More than a dozen high-level Chinese officials from various departments participated in the dialogue – some moved to tears by the children’s stories of hardship and loneliness – and their vulnerabilities to leaving school early and ill-prepared migration to unknown urban areas.

  

During the forum, the young people drafted a statement of recommendations for further consideration by the Government. They included better protection for vulnerable children when parents have migrated to another city to find work – leaving the youngsters back home, better and more affordable access to quality education in higher years, more emphasis on prevention work at community level, including better awareness raising about the links between migration and trafficking, and a recognition of their rights to meaningful consultation in any national or local-level plans of action to combat trafficking.

The children’s participation in the fight against trafficking was contributing to the development of the country adding the future of China.