Manifesto 2007: A call to action to make prevention of abuse and violence against children a priority

Follow-up to the UN Study on Violence against Children: WWSF planned activities and contributions(presented at the 4th session of the UN Human Rights Council – Geneva, March 2007)

WWSF, an international empowerment NGO for the promotion and implementation of women’s and children’s rights and the Millennium Development Goals, serves its global network through a women’s and a children’s section.

The WWSF Children’s Section supports the full implementation of the Study’s recommendations and commits to raise awareness of the overarching recommendations with its partnership coalition of over 700 organisations in more than 110 countries that work for the creation of a global culture of child abuse prevention and commit to mark the World Day for prevention of child abuse - 19 November with activities and events.

Activities at the international level:

2007 must be a new beginning with the adoption of the General Assembly Resolution of the UN Study on violence against children. www.violencestudy.org

WWSF will widely diffuse the Study to its coalition members, empower them to organise events in their countries, profile the Study recommendations and advocate for implementation, taking into account the realities at their national level.

WWSF will use its annual Call to Action and global poster campaign to mobilise its growing network for urgent action especially on the World Day for prevention of child abuse.

WWSF will help prioritise prevention by:

• Reminding and lobbying governments of the overarching Study recommendations and urge them to demonstrate political will by providing adequate resources to deliver concrete results
• Raising awareness that violence against children is a violation of their rights and encourages citizens to challenge it
• Promoting non-violent values and good examples of prevention programs via the WWSF International Clearinghouse providing Internet links to good practice prevention programs
• Sharing effective measures for preventing child abuse and combating violence through legislation and national action plans for the Study recommendations to be successful
• Awarding coalition members for innovative prevention practices with the annual WWSF Prize for prevention of child abuse, among other interventions.

Activities at the national and local level:

• Disseminate the Study recommendations in the national languages among Swiss organizations working for the implementation of the Rights of the child; support national level advocacy
• Collaborate with UN agencies in monitoring the follow-up to the Study
• Support the participation of children in the implementation of the recommendations
• Include in the annual WWSF conferences on « Progress in preventing child abuse - annual review » the implementation of the Study recommendations.

At the 4th session of the UN Human Rights Council (March 2007), WWSF launched:

• MANIFESTO 2007 - A Call to Action to make prevention of abuse and violence against children a priority. Implementing the UN Study recommendations - A matter of urgency. www.woman.ch/children/1-introduction.php
• WWSF International Clearinghouse - a selection of good practice prevention programs with Internet links to help speed up implementation of Study recommendations.
  www.woman.ch/children/3-links.php