Geneva — The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, presented her annual report to the Human Rights Council at its 25th session, urging States to significantly strengthen their investment in v
19/03/2014
Geneva — The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, presented her annual report to the Human Rights Council at its 25th session, urging States to significantly strengthen their investment in violence prevention for children.
In her report, the SRSG highlighted progress made since the 2006 UN Study on Violence against Children, while also drawing attention to persistent gaps in child protection systems in all regions of the world.
"Prevention works. We have robust evidence that investing in families, communities and schools to prevent violence against children yields significant long-term benefits — for children, for societies and for economies," said SRSG-VAC Marta Santos Pais.
The SRSG stressed the importance of integrating a strong child protection goal into the post-2015 development agenda, and called on Member States to ensure that ending violence against children becomes a measurable, time-bound commitment in the successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals.
The SRSG also highlighted the importance of the Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure (OPCP), which entered into force on 14 April 2014, as a landmark tool for child rights accountability.
Member States were encouraged to ratify all Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to strengthen national legal frameworks to protect children from all forms of violence in all settings.