Children's Week

Children from Aceh, Indonesia enjoying a mask making workshop with The Body Shop Australia volunteers in the Children On The Edge Child Friendly Space.

Photo: Kerry Robinson / The Body Shop

Today marks the beginning of Children’s Week. One of its aims is to raise community awareness of children’s right to enjoy childhood.

This is a right we take for granted here in Australia. In developing countries, poverty forces kids to grow up far too quickly. Children simply don't have the luxury of playing or going to school, they have to work to survive.

Worst still, according to UNICEF, an estimated 1.2 million children are being trafficked every year. Because there is a demand for children as cheap labour or for sexual exploitation. Children and their families are often unaware of the dangers of trafficking, believing that better employment and lives lie in other cities or countries.

Defending children's rights is very close to our hearts. In 1990 our founder, Anita Roddick, founded a charity called Children on the Edge (COTE) in response to the Romanian orphanage crisis.

COTE exists for the most vulnerable and marginalised child worldwide, ensuring they are heard and are not invisible, are protected and have their needs met, advocating for all of their rights in accordance with the principles and provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Body Shop Australia has been selling Tri-Massagers since 2003 and giving all proceeds to the COTE project in Viqueque, East Timor . The massagers have the added bonus of being made by one of our oldest Community Trade partners India.

To celebrate Children's Week I thought it would be great to get some of our amazing staff who have recently returned from volunteering at the COTE Child Friendly Space in Aceh, Indonesia to talk about their experiences, so stay tuned...

Learn More:

• Stop Child Trafficking
• UNICEF's Convention on the Rights of the Child Photo Essay Parts One & Two

Adam Valvasori - Values Manager - The Body Shop