Final Rio Declaration Calls for more Research for Evidence-Based Action
The declaration from the World Congress III against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November last year was recently finalized and published by the Brazilian government. The declaration supports the strengthening of research to improve preventive measures, interventions and monitoring to ensure quality of programs.
The Brazilian Government hosted the World Congress III, held 25 - 28 November last year, in partnership with UNICEF, ECPAT International and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. More than 3.500 participants of 160 countries attended the Congress, including 138 Government delegations, representatives of international agencies, NGOs, private sector and 282 adolescents.
Comments and amendments have since been incorporated into the final Declaration. The "Rio de Janeiro Declaration and Call for Action to Prevent and Stop Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents" states that the signatories will "initiate, fund and share the outcomes fo research on all forms of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents [...], with a view to ensuring that interventions are appropriate and effective." It also commits the parties to develop indicators, share best practices and promote the use of evidence-based information for the development and implementation of policies and programmes.
The Call for Action is more specific, emphazising in particular the need for research and development of technology, to undertake efficient interventions related to electronically dissminated child abuse images. It also calls for research of gender socialization, to promote respect for the rights of girls and women.