About 1 billion children —half of all children globally — experience violence, according to the World Health Organization.
Ending “abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against, and torture of, children” is a target of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Fifteen years ago, the U.N. appointed its first special representative of the secretary-general on violence against children to tackle the issue. The post is currently held by Najat Maalla M’jid. In July of this year, she published a report warning that despite many actions around the world to address violence against children, progress has not reached the scale or speed needed.
To highlight this stubborn problem, the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children takes place this week in Bogotá, Colombia — hosted by the governments of Colombia and Sweden, WHO, UNICEF, and M’jid. On Nov. 7 and 8, delegates will try to reach commitments to challenge all forms of violence, including corporal punishment, bullying, online violence, and emotional and sexual abuse.
About the author
Gabriella Jóźwiak@GabriellaJ
Gabriella Jóźwiak is an award-winning journalist based in London. Her work on issues and policies affecting children and young people in developing countries and the U.K. has been published in national newspapers and magazines. Having worked in-house for domestic and international development charities, Jóźwiak has a keen interest in organizational development, and has worked as a journalist in several countries across West Africa and South America.
