Through the Nowarat Children’s Empowerment Program in Thailand, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency is using education to protect vulnerable children from future exploitation by the sex industry.

The three-year-old program provided education to 50 children in 2001, and plans are underway to increase the number of participants in 2002. This empowerment program provides education for the poorest children in rural villages, giving them an opportunity to fulfill their dreams of becoming nurses or teachers.

According to the most recent UNICEF report on child prostitution in Asia, there are between 12,000 and 18,000 child prostitutes in Thailand. This represents a 20 percent increase in the past three years. These children are lured, kidnapped, or sold from impoverished areas into the sex industry, often with false promises of a better life or well-paid work that will support their families.

ADRA Thailand also is reviewing other needs of children to increase the number of those enrolled in traditional education or vocational training programs.

Part of the Malaysian Peninsula in Southeast Asia, the Kingdom of Thailand is slightly larger than Spain. Seventy-five percent of its 61.2 million people live in rural areas.