15 years ago, the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children was established, guided by General Assembly resolution 62/141 — ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IS POSSIBLE! CHILD TRAFFICKING IS INCREASING We need to take action now!

15 years ago, the man­date of the Spe­cial Rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the Sec­re­tary-Gen­er­al on Vio­lence against Chil­dren was estab­lished, guid­ed by Gen­er­al Assem­bly res­o­lu­tion 62/141.

There have been, through­out the years, unde­ni­able advances for the pro­tec­tion of chil­dren from vio­lence. How­ev­er, with less than 6 years remain­ing to keep our promise to end all forms of vio­lence by 2030, and despite reit­er­at­ed strong polit­i­cal com­mit­ments, we are still lag­ging behind in achiev­ing this goal. The clock is tick­ing and end­ing vio­lence against chil­dren can­not wait. Children’s vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty and expo­sure to vio­lence con­tin­ue to increase alarm­ing­ly world­wide due to mul­ti­di­men­sion­al and over­lap­ping crises. No coun­try is immune and no child is immune. Indeed, more than half of the world’s chil­dren, 1 bil­lion chil­dren, are exposed to some form of vio­lence every year. This rep­re­sents a huge cost on coun­tries, and research shows that pre­vent­ing and end­ing vio­lence against chil­dren makes eco­nom­ic sense. This year’s anniver­sary pro­vides a key oppor­tu­ni­ty for reen­er­giz­ing mul­ti­lat­er­al­ism and sus­tain­able and con­text-spe­cif­ic part­ner­ships to ensure sus­tain­able invest­ment in child pro­tec­tion and well-being, leav­ing no child behind. Vio­lence against chil­dren can – and must – be end­ed, and every­one has a role to play, includ­ing States, finan­cial insti­tu­tions, donors, the pri­vate sec­tor, the media, acad­e­mia, civ­il soci­ety and faith-based orga­ni­za­tions, chil­dren and youth.

We invite you all to ACT NOW with us to end all forms of vio­lence against chil­dren in all settings.