GENEVA - The UN Global status report on preventing violence against children 2020 focuses on the interpersonal violence that accounts for most acts of violence against children, and includes child maltreatment, bullying and other types of youth violence, and intimate partner violence (1). Although childhood exposure to interpersonal violence can increase the risk for subsequent self-directed violence (including suicide and self-harm) (2)and the likelihood of collective violence (including war and terrorism) (3) – and similar root causes underlie all three forms of violence (3,4) – these forms of violence are not covered by the report.
Aims of the report
The elimination of violence against children is called for in several targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development but most explicitly in Target 16.2: “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children”. Violence against children is predictable and preventable, and governments have committed to ending it through their adoption of these targets within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Global status report on preventing violence against children 2020 explores the progress that countries have made in implementing activities to achieve the SDG targets on ending violence against children through the lens of the seven INSPIRE evidence-based strategies for ending violence against children.
The specific aims of the report are to document if governments:• have in place national plans of action, policies and laws that are consistent with those identified as effective by INSPIRE;• are accurately measuring fatal and non-fatal instances of violence;• have established quantified baseline and target values against which to monitor their progress in ending violence against children; • are supporting the implementation of evidence-based interventions along the lines of those included under the seven INSPIRE strategies.
In a survey administered from mid-2018 to mid-2019, 155 countries reported on their efforts to prevent violence against children, the first time ever that governments are self-reporting on their work to specifically address violence against children. By giving an assessment of efforts to prevent violence against children globally and a snapshot of these efforts by country, the report provides a baseline against which governments can monitor their progress toward reaching the relevant SDG targets over the course of 2020–2030, which the United Nations has declared to be the Decade of Action to deliver the global goals for sustainable development (hereafter the UN Decade of Action) (6).
INSPIRE: Seven strategies for ending violence against childrenINSPIRE is a set of seven evidence-based strategies for countries and communities working to eliminate violence against children (5). Launched in 2016 by 10 agencies with a long history of using scientific approaches to understand and prevent violence against children, INSPIRE serves as a technical package and handbook for selecting, implementing and monitoring effective policies, programmes and services to prevent and respond to violence againstchildren.
INSPIRE is an acronym, with each letter representing one of the seven strategies:
I for the implementation and enforcement of laws;
N for norms and values;
S for safe environments;
P for parent and caregiver support;
I for income and economic strengthening;
R for response and support services; and
E for education and life skills (5).
In addition, there are two cross-cutting activities (multisectoral action and coordination, and monitoring and evaluation) that help connect and strengthen the seven strategies and monitor the extent of their implementation and impact on the problem.
The World Health Organization (WHO) initiated preparation of INSPIRE, in collaboration with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children (End Violence), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Together for Girls, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the World Bank
For the full report, visit: https://who.canto.global/pdfviewer/viewer/viewer.html?share=share%2Calbum%2CQEM8H&column=document&id=m111dgi14l2hfc675lc1pjuu0b&suffix=pdf
