CHILDSAFE STORY

1 | How did you first learn about the ChildSafe Movement?

We came in touch with Friends International because we wanted to feature an NGO in our online payment page and we had heard of their good work in Cambodia. When we were discussing with them, they introduced us to ChildSafe  and we were immediately engaged by the initiative.

2 | Why is it important for you to be ChildSafe?

It is important to be ChildSafe for us because we have Cambodia in our name, in our roots and in our values as a business.  We are proudly Cambodian, and as such, we are committed to putting our “grain of sand” to help out the people who are able to do good development work and make a difference. It is important to realise that development work can be done by anyone: from tourists, to private companies and to NGOs. This is how we see ChildSafe: it helps to involve more people in the process of fighting against child poverty and marginalisation. As a travel start-up, we felt the need to use our position to help out in this respect and educate our customers and our partners on what ChildSafe is what each of us can do to help.

3 | In what ways do you implement ChildSafe protection as an individual or within your business or organization?

CamboTicket raises awareness about ChildSafe all throughout our communication: website, newsletters, tickets… The goal is to educate travellers on the dos and don’ts when they arrive in Cambodia. For most of them it is the first time in the region and they have not heard about how to deal with situations like begging children at tourist sites or crossroads. Also, and even though we joined ChildSafe only recently, we also have a lot of work to do with our partners. Our operator partners go beyond the Cambodian border and span all over the country. This big transport network gives us a privileged position to enforce ChildSafe with Cambodian businesses and will ensure we continue to do so in the near future.

4 | What experiences have you faced personally which have demonstrated the need to be a ChildSafe advocate?

You don’t need to go to Angkor to find begging children in the streets. The sense of helplessness when you encounter one of these situations is what motivated me to personally push our involvement in ChildSafe. We’re giving people the first and most important step in this fight: information.

5 | Do you have any examples you can share of ways you have enforced ChildSafe protection which led to a positive outcome?

Since our involvement in ChildSafe is fairly recent, we do not specific information about the outcomes our effort has had just yet. We hope its giving travellers the tools to react positively when they encounter children at risk. I am sure we will know more about our impact due to this project in the near future.