In the framework of UNESCOs programme concerning paedophilia on the Internet, the Foundation for the Child and the Family organised the European Conference entitled The sexual abuse of children, and paedophilia on the Internet. The Conference was held on 2nd -3rd December 1999 at Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall.
The Conference was attended by representatives of international and European governmental and non-governmental organisations and specialists from various areas such as justice, police, psychology, informatics, and others, aiming to examine the problem of the sexual abuse of children, child pornography and paedophilia on the Internet, through a review and assessment of the findings of recent research, as well as the means of coordinating human, technical and financial resources, in order to bring them to bear on these problems, and in order to protect children, with a particular emphasis on the European Mediterranean countries and those of the Balkans.
Speakers at the opening ceremony of the Conference were: Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, Mr. Raymond Kendall, Secretary-General of INTERPOL; Mrs. Ofelia Calcetas Santos, Special Correspondent; Mrs. Anne-Aymone Giscard dEstaing, President of the Fondation pour lEnfance; Mrs. Homayra Sellier, President of the UNESCO World Citizens Movement for the Protection of Innocence in Danger; Judge Andre Ruffo, President of the International Bureau for the Rights of Children.
Greece was represented by His Holiness Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece and Mr. Michalis Chrisochoides, Minister of Public Order.
Mrs. Rodi Kratsas, President of the Women of Europe Prize (Greece) moderated the conference.
The Conference was part of the contribution of the Foundation for the Child and the Family to the World Citizens Movement for the Protection of Innocence in Danger.
THE SUBJECTS OF THE CONFERENCE
Reports from Balkan and Mediterranean European countries.
International legislation and legal questions concerning the sexual abuse of children.
The phenomenon of the sexual abuse of children and paedophilia.
The results of research.
The psychologists point of view.
How pornography and paedophilia function on the Internet.
Dangers and measures taken for the protection of children from paedophilia on the Internet.
International police cooperation for the protection of children from paedophilia.
Regional cooperation programmes.
Education through the mass media, as one of the solutions.
National Citizens Committees for the protection of Innocence in Danger.
INNOCENCE IN DANGER
the child must be protected against all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (art. 34), United Nations Convention for the Rights of Children
World Citizens Movement for the Protection of Innocence in Danger.
UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It is also the United Nations body responsible for matters concerning the Internet.
UNESCO is promoting the Innocence in Danger initiative; the first truly international programme for education and safety on the Internet. The programme was designed to gather information and create networks between industries and citizens action committees, in order to ensure the legal access, the education, the protection of children, and their safety, and to provide parents with help in understanding the possibilities of the Internet, and how to supervise their childrens activities on the Internet.
Using the United Nations Convention for the Rights of Children as a guideline, the Innocence in Danger programme has the following aims :
To create channels of communication and collaboration between professionals in the areas of Internet and Justice, specialists in the protection of children, personalities and political leaders, through the intermediary of national action committees.
To heighten global public awareness of the need for drastic action against child pornography and paedophilia on the Internet, as well all forms of sexual abuse of children.
To mobilise human and technical resources in order to provide support to enterprises and non-governmental organizations in their efforts to protect children and to safeguard their rights.
National Citizens Committees : Albania, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, U.K., U.S.A..