The Body Shop Malta is encouraging members of the public to add their signature to its petition urging the government to sign the Council of Europe's Convention on the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.

It also calls for the creation of a sex offenders' register. The authorities have been toying with the idea of such a list for years but to date there have been no concrete developments on the matter.

The petition forms part of the international campaign by The Body Shop to raise three million signatures worldwide in one voice against human trafficking.

The CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Sina Bugeja said that, in light of the government's pro-active approach towards preventing trafficking in persons, Malta was actively seeking to sign and ratify the convention.

The government, she said, had already conducted the necessary studies which confirmed Malta was in a position to do this.

Ms Bugeja was speaking at an event in which The Body Shop International representative Paula Bedford presented her with a cheque for €1,000 collected by the local franchise through the sale of the hand cream Soft Hands, Kind Heart.

Appoġġ will be using the money to produce educational material on the growing issue of child and human trafficking.

The foundation, in collaboration with other entities, has been working to secure children's protection. Signing the convention would, said Ms Bugeja, consolidate efforts in the field and signify Malta's commitment towards suppressing sexual exploitation of children.

Available in all four The Body Shop local outlets, the petition is the second phase of an ongoing worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the growing exploitation of children for sexual purposes.

The first phase involved the sale of a special edition hand cream, which The Body Shop Malta director Simone Mizzi said would continue to be sold to further build on the success of the campaign.