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[24 May 2005, BAMAKO] - The third regional consultation on violence against children was officially opened this morning by a number of speakers from the region. The consultation is being attended by over 200 participants from 24 West and Central African countries, including four ministers, government representatives, children, international, regional and national NGO representatives, and the media. The first speakers all related the importance of the study to the region and the forms of violence that are most prominent in this region. Dr. Ezio Murzi, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said he hoped this meeting would help to highlight the root causes of violence specific to this region, such as poverty, accelerated urbanisation, the fact that school attendance and literary levels are the lowest in world, armed conflicts and HIV/AIDS, and reinforce preventative measures. Violence is ultimately the responsibility of the government, but is it also essential to increase cooperation between governments, civil society and UN agencies, and this should be done “within our social frameworks, cultures, traditions specific to each country”. Definitions of violence were presented by Dr. Lamine Cisse Sarr, WHO, Representative of the Regional Director for Africa, emphasising once again that one of the main problems for this region is that much violence is still hidden or not known about, particularly issues such as sexual abuse, violence against street children, children affected by HIV/AIDS, etc. Imam Cheikh Hassan Cisse, President of the Network of African Islamic NGOs, talked about Islam, Christianity and other traditional African religions and how each of them see children as a source of joy, who must be respected and protected, and this was the duty of parents, but also the wider community. Ms. Berthe Aissata Bengaly, Minister of Promotion of Family, Children and Women, Mali, mentioned some of the progress made on issues such as child trafficking and working children, but she also emphasized that much still needs to be done, where for instance, children are not even safe in their own homes. Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Independent Expert leading the Secretary- General’s UN Study on Violence against children, recognised that talking about violence was a delicate matter everywhere, but the presence of those here in West and Central Africa demonstrates they are not negating that there is a problem, and this should be an example for the rest of the world. He explained that he was aware that in West and Central Africa, conflict was important to the context to which other forms of violence occur, as many participants have raised, however this study will not address armed conflict because there is already a special rapporteur whose role it is to report to the Secretary-General and the Security Council on children in armed conflict, Mr Olara Otunnu, with whom they will be collaborating.