SANTO DOMINGO.- Through the signing of an agreement, the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP), as trustee of the Pro-Pedernales Trust, assumed the commitment with the international organization Save The Children, to work and assume protocols and actions that allow preventing, from the foundation of the Cabo Rojo destination, the commercial sexual exploitation of children and the violation of children's rights.
The agreement, signed by the executive director of the DGAPP, Sigmund Freund, and the president of Save The Children Dominicana, Juan Tomás Díaz Infante, proposes to jointly develop child protection policies, protocols and procedures, which will be implemented as a cross-cutting axis in all stages of the new destination being developed in the Southern region.
Freund highlighted that with the support of Save The Children Dominican Republic, Cabo Rojo will be the first tourist destination that, from the beginning, will work in accordance with international protocols to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents and the violation of children's rights.
“We could say that it will be the first tourist destination that will work from scratch on a campaign, in a precise, clear and planned way, to combat this evil of using minors as if they were sexual objects,” Freund indicated and emphasized that the Cabo Rojo-Pedernales project, more than a tourist project, “is a social project, a project of change, of social impact in a region that has so many needs, so much poverty.”.
The official noted that the signing of this agreement is part of the actions being carried out by the government following the Dominican Republic's incorporation into the Regional Action Group of the Americas for the Prevention of Child Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, known by its acronym GARA, an initiative chaired by the Minister of Tourism, David Collado, and the First Lady and President of the Cabinet for Children and Adolescents, Raquel Arbaje.
He explained that, together with Save The Children Dominicana, the DGAPP and the Pro-Pedernales Trust, they will focus on developing an awareness campaign in the province, among tourists visiting the destination, and also with contractors and employees of companies working in the area, about the need to protect children and adolescents.
Freund indicated that Cabo Rojo is destined to become a leading destination, both in environmental matters and in the type of tourism it will offer visitors. “Cabo Rojo will showcase its protocol and demonstrate that it is a destination whose fundamental objective is the protection of children's rights.”.
Likewise, the president of Save The Children Dominican Republic, Juan Tomás Díaz Infante, thanked the DGAPP for its willingness to develop this initiative and highlighted that it is commendable that a public institution embraces this cause of preventing child commercial exploitation in any form in a tourist destination.
“As we know, tourism brings many good things, but it also brings many bad things, and preventing it from the beginning can make all the difference,” Díaz Infante explained, noting that in other tourist destinations in the country, despite efforts, it has not been possible to eradicate the abuse and sexual exploitation of minors.
“With Cabo Rojo we have the opportunity to create a very different destination,” emphasized the president of Save The Children Dominican Republic, and took the opportunity to call on the business sector to join this type of cause, indicating that there are many ways in which they can help protect children's rights.
Also present at the signing ceremony were, from Save the Children Dominican Republic, Executive Director Alba Rodríguez; M&E and Learning Manager Katherine Fernández; and Federico Jovine. Representing the DGAPP were Technical Deputy Director Eliardo Cairo; Promotion Deputy Director Izalia López; Legal Director Grey Peña; Technical Director of the Pro-Pedernales Trust's Implementing Unit Jose Rafael Miguel; and Communications Director Elaine Nivar.
Agreement details
Among the commitments made by the parties are working collaboratively and in a complementary manner, within a framework of respect, reflection, evaluation and learning for an effective and impactful response, creating mechanisms for communication, coordination and joint actions based on a work plan and promoting actions aimed at promoting children's rights to ensure the sustainability of the actions implemented.
