Attachments
Earlier in November, representatives from more than 100 countries attended the First Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence against Children. The event marked a significant milestone, reflecting a strong global commitment to the prevention of violence against children.
Throughout the event, speakers consistently communicated key messages on progress towards ending abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against children (SDG 16.2), the role of community, youth and survivor voices in addressing violence, and the importance of achieving impact at scale.
The conference introduced a pledging platform and emphasized the need for ambitious commitments to end abuse against children. As a result, 101 countries submitted pledges to action. What were the main pledges? Were they bold enough? Here, we review the pledges made by governments and organizations, noting that if translated into action, they could lead to significant progress in the fight against violence toward children.
1. The creation of response and support services was the top pledging priority across countries
Conference conveners urged countries to prioritize three breakthrough topics: 1) universal access to parent and caregiver support, 2) universal access to safe and enabling school environments, and 3) response and support services integrating justice, health and social welfare systems. Notably, 80 percent of the 101 countries that submitted pledges committed to working on at least one of these areas.
65 countries committed to actions related to the creation of response and support services, followed by legal and policy frameworks, parent and caregiver support, and safe school environments. These top priorities remain similar when broken down by region or income level (Figure 1). Actions towards data collection and monitoring received less attention with only 30 percent of countries prioritizing this topic.