More than 60 NGO’s working in grassroots projects to protect children from sexual abuse met to analyze achievements since the 1996 Stockholm World Congress on Sexual and Commercial Exploitation of Children. They convened on 23-24 September under the banner of the NGO Focal Point on Sexual Exploitation and the Rights of the Child at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. While the main focus of the meeting was on sexual abuse of children, representatives from UNESCO and The World Citizen’s Movement to Protect Innocence in Danger pointed to the growing threats from the Internet, "Sex predators and child molesters no longer need to hide" says Innocence in Danger President Homayra Sellier, "they meet your kids in the 40.000 popular chat rooms in the Internet". Global statistics show that only 4% of the world’s children use the Internet. "But this is growing", says UNESCO’s Choy Arnaldo, "studies in 1999 now show the 8% of France’s, 12% of Germany’s and 17% of Australia’s children are on the Net". This should serve as an early warning sign. "We should not wait for problems to happen, but prevent them from happening" . "Technology progress is like a wild animal", declared Jacques Danois, Secretary-General of AMADE Mondiale, "if you do not tame it, it will eat you". The meeting reviewed projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America and considered potential venues for a follow-up event to Stockholm in 2001 in Morocco, Brazil or Japan. In a separate meeting at the International Bureau of Education, Swiss members of Innocence in Danger met on 22 September to review their activities. UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child trafficking and child prostitution, Ofelia Calcetas-Santos, reported on her work in Guatemala where, at the requests of the Government, she compiled first-hand reports of child abuse, child trafficking and complicity of some officials. She urged UNESCO to prepare, in cooperation with the International Bureau of Children’s Rights, a manual on how children victims should be treated in courts and by the police. Bernard Boéton, Terres des Hommes, reported on how his NGO prepared the 1981 and 1994 reports on Sri Lanka that finally convinced the government to set up a presidential committee to stop the trafficking and abuse of Sri Lankan children. He also pointed to new dangers on the Internet : book reviews, stories; clubs and other technical forms that openly discuss child-adult sexual relationships. Censorship is not the solution. But there must be a more pro-active use of filters and open discussion in the family on their use. Innocence in Danger is preparing a major concert for fund raising and a major information event possibly to be organized in 2000 in Brussels. Links on this site: Communication and Society - Children and Youth issues Sexual Abuse of Children, Child Pornography and Paedophilia on the Internet: An international challenge - Expert Meeting, UNESCO, Paris, 18-19 January        Contact:Choy Arnaldo, UNESCO, Communication Division