United Nations Radio

A two-day meeting in Bangkok reached the conclusion that despite some progress in recent years in addressing the problem of sexual abuse of children in East Asia and the Pacific, much more needs to be done to prevent child exploitation.

The meeting of experts, government officials and young activists was in preparation for the World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents to be held in Rio de Janeiro in November. Amalee McCoy, a Child Protection expert with UNICEF says the key objective for the Bangkok meeting was for the region to agree on proposed goals and targets that they want to achieve in addressing the sexual exploitation of children. Among these is promoting awareness of the dangers of exploitation through the Internet.

"Children and parents have to receive the proper education that there are dangers on line. Children are increasingly using the internet to meet people, to make friends, and even to meet strangers. A lot of times children don't realize the potential dangers."

Ms. McCoy says young people played a prominent role in the meeting and came up with their own series of recommendations.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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