Countries pledge action to protect nearly 1 billion children from violence

A call for positive action

“Violence is largely preventable, but millions of children around the world are still exposed to violence in their daily lives, and the physical and mental trauma they suffer can last for generations,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The commitments made by countries today are likely to eventually reverse the trend of violence against children.”

Tedros pointed out that actions such as providing parenting guidance to families, creating safer school environments, providing social care and health services to children who are victims of violence, or enacting laws to prohibit violence against children and address cyberbullying are essential to protecting children from lasting harm and eliminating poor health among children.

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Research shows that if countries effectively implement these strategies, violence against children could be reduced by 20%-50%.

Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations has set ending violence against children as part of its Sustainable Development Goals. Although some countries have made progress in reducing violence against children, overall progress remains slow. Today, about 90% of children in the world still live in countries that do not fully ban corporal punishment, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation.

Key data

  • Around half of all children aged 2-17 years worldwide – more than 1 billion – experience some form of violence every year.
  • Three out of five children are regularly physically punished at home.
  • One in five girls and one in seven boys have experienced sexual violence.
  • Between 25% and 50% of children experience bullying at school.
  • Violence (often involving guns or other weapons) is the leading cause of death among adolescent boys.

Main commitments

  • Eight countries, including Burundi, Czech Republic, Gambia, Kyrgyzstan, Panama, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Tajikistan, have pledged to enact legislation to ban corporal punishment in all settings, and Nigeria has pledged to enact legislation to ban corporal punishment in schools.
  • Dozens of countries have pledged to invest in parenting services.
  • The UK has committed to co-sponsoring a global taskforce with partners to reduce violence in schools through education.
  • Tanzania plans to set up child protection help desks in 25,000 schools across the country.
  • Spain is working on introducing new electronic network laws to improve cybersecurity.
  • The Solomon Islands has pledged to raise the marriage age from 15 to 18 to address the risk of violence associated with early marriage.
  • Many countries have pledged to strengthen national policies and develop special plans to focus on addressing violence against children.

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