NGOs unite to end Violence against Children in Lebanon

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A roundtable discussion took place in Beirut on 27 June 2007 to follow-up on the Arabic launch of the UN Study on Violence against Children produced calls for developing a national strategy addressing this issue.

The event, entitled UN Study on Violence against Children: Next Steps for Lebanon, was jointly sponsored by Save the Children Sweden and World Vision.

Participants included representatives from more than 30 international and local non-governmental organizations who discussed the recommendations from the study, ways to implement them, violence against children in Lebanon and obstacles.

“Action needs to be taken on a national level in Lebanon addressing violence against children and increasing awareness of this issue amongst parents…recommendations of the study must be implemented and monitored…we, the children can monitor” said Sarah Ajami a youth participant who also took part in the launch of the Study in Cairo last month.

Patricio Cuevas-Parra from World Vision expressed how exciting it was that youth participated in launching and advocating the key recommendations in the study. “It is impressive to see 22 children empowered enough to express their ideas and ask questions regarding violence against them…they pose probing questions that challenge authorities, that us adults don’t do” said Patricio Cuevas.

Patricio Cuevas- Parra, continued to address the problem that “in Lebanon, people tend to be very tolerant to common forms of violence against children such as slapping, shaking and scolding. Many people even approve corporal punishment as a way to discipline children,” he emphasized however that “this is something that must and can be changed because it is a cultural issue.”

Participants discussed ways to disseminate the report to people in all the regions of Lebanon, and how to transform the reports findings to a framework that could be used and enforced. Also, it was agreed that gaps and obstacles must be identified and overcome.

Representatives from NGOs also stressed the importance of collaborating with the Higher Council for Childhood and Ministry of Social Services to create and implement a national strategy based on the study’s recommendations.

The role of media in increasing knowledge of children, parents, and stakeholders of the issues of child abuse and neglect were talked about extensively. Rana Noueiri from Save the Children Sweden highlighted civil society’s role in educating the media to be able to disseminate information regarding violence against children, and briefly discussed the initiative of Save the Children and the Ministry of Social Affairs to create ethical guidelines with the media on how to interact with children.

She also stressed that “it is important to involve children in all processes…media should involve children in the programs created for them…we can’t speak on behalf of children, we have to provide them with a platform to express themselves from.”

The importance of empowering children, teaching them their rights was highlighted, as Rana Noueiri added, “children must be empowered to be able to say NO to violence against them”. Also participants of the roundtable discussion stressed that there needs to be a system that children can report to, and that addresses their problems.

World Vision and Save the Children Sweden distributed material regarding the UN Study of Violence against Children was distributed, in addition to a child-friendly version of the report developed by Save the Children Sweden for children especially between the ages 7 to 12 entitled: Safe You Save Me. Participants called for the UN to disseminate the study and the child-friendly version of it at a wider-scale.

Further information

The UN Study on Violence against Children was the first comprehensive global attempt to document the extent and impact of all forms of violence against children. Save the Children Sweden and World Vision were heavily involved in this study at the global, regional, and national levels. The report contains twelve overarching recommendations to prevent and address violence against children:

  1. Strengthen national and local commitment and action
  2. Prohibit all violence against children
  3. Prioritise prevention
  4. Promote non-violent values and awareness-raising
  5. Enhance the capacity of all who work with and for children
  6. Provide recovery and social reintegration services
  7. Ensure the participation of children
  8. Create accessible and child-friendly reporting systems and services
  9. Ensure accountability and end impunity
  10. Address the gender dimension of violence against children
  11. Develop and implement systematic national data collection and research efforts
  • Strengthen international commitment


For further information or for more information please contact:

Jessy Chahine, Communications Officer
World Vision Lebanon
Tel: +961 4 401 980/1/2 ext. 73
Fax: +961 4 401983
Mobile: +961 3 171371
Email: Jessy_chahine@wvi.org
http://lebanon.worldvision.org

Edith Karam, Regional Communications Officer Save the Children Sweden
Tel: +961 (0)1 738 654/5
Fax: +961 1 739023
Mobile: +961 (0)3 128 83
Email: ekaram@scsmena.org
web: www.scsmena.org

 

See also:

Owner: Save the Children and World Vision

Country: 
Lebanon
Issues: 
Child participation

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