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Summary: Statement delivered by the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children to the Youth Forum on Violence against Children Accra, Ghana in September 2010.
Distinguished Guests, dear Children, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to be with you here today. I would like to start by very especially greeting the young participants in this Forum. I want to congratulate you for the critical work you are promoting in your countries to raise awareness about the many forms of violence affecting children’s lives, and for your determination in mobilizing steady action and wide support towards the elimination of this child rights violation. I am eager to learn about your initiatives and experience, and to hear your recommendations on how we can join efforts and accelerate progress in our common endeavour to prevent and address all forms of violence against children.
It is a great pleasure for me to join hands in Accra with key partners of my mandate, allies who have for long also been active supporters of the process of follow-up to the UN Study on Violence against Children. I cannot thank the organizers enough for inviting me, on the occasion of my first visit to West Africa, to participate in this milestone event that aims to establish formal mechanisms for children’s participation in the follow-up process to the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence against Children.
I want to warmly thank Plan International and Save the Children, for their hard work in putting together a very rich programme centred on the active participation of children in the promotion of their rights and in the protection of children from all forms of violence.
I want to express my special gratitude to UNICEF for making it possible for me to travel and join this important forum in Accra, and for the strong support to the preparation of my visit provided over the recent weeks by the UNICEF team in Ghana and the Regional Office in Dakar.
I am truly pleased to be joining hands in this Forum with representatives from the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. They are leading ambassadors for the rights of children and very special allies of our cause for the protection of children from all forms of violence.
I am delighted to be here with you all and look forward to a very successful meeting, a meeting enriched by your experience and expertise, and a meeting that can help place the protection of children from violence high in the policy agenda in the West Africa region, and influence change everywhere else in the world.
Dear Friends,
As you know, the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children was recommended by the UN Study on Violence against Children, in which so many of you have participated, and endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The position was formally established by a decision of the Secretary-General and I started this important mission exactly a year ago, on 1 September 2009.
For me there could not be a better way of celebrating this first birthday than joining hands with you, here in Ghana! I am thrilled to reflect together on the best way of consolidating further our strong partnership and of successfully advancing our common agenda. And I feel especially rewarded by the opportunity to reflect together with you, young participants in this Forum on the steps ahead. You are the reason behind my mandate; but, not less importantly, you are also key actors in the process of change we want to promote, to build a world of justice, solidarity and joy for each and every child, a world where violence, in whatever form and under whatever circumstance, has truly no place!
I was honoured to participate in the previous days in important meetings with Ghanaian high level officials, including the Ministers of Women and Children Affairs, Employment and Social Welfare, Education, and Youth and Sports. I was also privileged to meet the Honorable Vice President, who is known for his active role as a champion for children. In these meetings, one key concern I have raised was the need for strong legislation to prohibit violence against children in all its forms. I am tremendously encouraged by the strong commitment expressed during these high level discussions to children’s rights and specifically to the protection of children from violence.
And I am confident that the rich discussions of the Accra Youth Forum will act as a source of inspiration for future policy developments, in Ghana and in West Africa as a whole.
Dear Friends,
I firmly believe in the importance of a strong partnership with children and young people. As true agents of change, their association is fundamental to achieve lasting solutions in our common struggle for the elimination of the still pervasive and global phenomenon of violence against children.
The participation of children in decisions affecting their lives is a fundamental right recognized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The international community commemorates this year the twentieth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention. As we take stock of the experience gained over the past several years of its implementation, children’s participation in decision-making stands as an essential thrust of this significant process of social change.
The lessons learned from so many significant initiatives promoted in this area confirm that child participation is relevant in all regions, in all settings and at all ages, in times of peace, and in times of war. As the Accra Youth Forum confirms, with strong commitment, child participation can be meaningful, rather than tokenistic; relevant, rather than symbolic; genuine, rather than manipulative.
And they also help us realize that children cannot be perceived as passive recipients of care and protection, or accidental beneficiaries of policy decisions; they cannot be treated as not yet persons or adults in the making. They are key partners in development, and their genuine participation in decision making processes has led to a new perception of childhood and a renewed understanding of citizenship and democracy.
As you know, the development of the UN Study on Violence against Children is as a very important illustration of how successful UN initiatives can become once they tap on the unique potential of young people.
The Study was the first United Nations official document to be developed with the collaboration of children and young people. Children participated actively in national, regional and international consultations, they contributed to the development of key advocacy messages, and they influenced the content of this report and the shape of its recommendations.
To make the Study better known, and to promote the use of its key messages by young people, child-friendly materials on the protection of children from all forms of violence were developed and widely disseminated. With clear and accessible messages, these materials have also become useful for professionals working with and for children, and supportive of social mobilization initiatives.
The UN Study itself was issued in a child-friendly version. This version has been translated in a number of languages and, in some countries it is used in the education system as an innovative tool for the promotion of human rights education within the school curriculum.
Child participation was an essential component of the Study development and it constitutes one of its overarching recommendations; and, as the critical initiatives of young people in the West African region confirm, child participation remains an essential and strategic dimension of the process of follow-up.
As the Committee on the Rights of the Child has meaningfully acknowledged in its General Comment on The Right of the Child to be Heard, child participation helps to widen the outreach of advocacy and awareness raising initiatives, and empowers children to gain confidence and trust, and promote peer education towards violence elimination.
Children’s perspectives and experiences help to support efforts to consolidate child protection systems and have a unique potential to enrich the design of the national policy and development agenda.
This is why partnering with children is a cornerstone of my agenda as Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children.
This is why I am very committed to bring everywhere, including to UN meetings, the recommendations you have adopted in your deliberations; and to urge everyone to make strong commitments to the elimination of all forms of violence against children.
This is also why I strongly welcome and support the active contribution by children and young people to the development of a handbook on the General Comment of the Committee on “The Right of the Child to be Heard”, and to the process of preparation of a future General Comment of the Committee on children’s protection from violence. I know you are working hard on this important process and I want to encourage you to seek this strategic opportunity to help consolidate further children’s influence of key decision-making processes.
As I like to stress in all my meetings and missions to countries around the world, joining hands with young people and listening to their views and experiences provides a better understanding of the hidden face of violence and, more importantly, helps us to become better equipped to prevent violence, to develop child sensitive counselling, recovery and long lasting reintegration strategies, and to monitor progress and impact.
As young people have stressed in the discussions over the previous days, children help us realize the importance of addressing cultural attitudes that compromise progress in the fight against violence; they highlight the critical role of education and the importance of ensuring a strong system of legal protection from violence, including gender based violence. Children are key actors in expressing solidarity and support to their peers who suffer violence, in promoting awareness and understanding of the impact of violence on children, including through social media – an area where they have a unique expertise; in engaging in the sensitization of communities; and also in practising respect for each other, acting as a model of tolerance and non violence.
Children express a strong sense of impatience when they voice their deep concern at the very high levels of violence affecting their lives, and when they question the insufficient steps taken to address it. They press us for change, when they speak on behalf of the many victims who remain invisible in their experience of violence, stigma and exclusion; on behalf of the many children who lose trust and hope, when abused in settings designed to protect them; the many who fear reporting and reprisals, and those who dare to speak up and yet see their suffering forgotten in a pact of silence. Children ignite us with a call for urgent action.
Dear Friends
Child participation is gaining momentum at national, regional and global levels.
Ghana, as other countries in this region, has promoted significant initiatives in this area. I have learned about the very successful process of children’s participation in the Mid Term Review of the Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2008, organized by UNICEF.
I was truly inspired by the “Voices of Children” video clip that was produced on that occasion, and I was deeply motivated by the views from participating children on matters that affect them directly in the National Development Plan, including violence at school and in society at large.
Last August, in New York, the International Year of Youth was launched at the United Nations, with an eclectic event of speeches, musical performances, videos and poetry. On this important occasion, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored that “in a world in which different peoples and traditions are coming into closer, more frequent contact than ever before, it is crucial that young people learn how to listen intently, empathize with others, acknowledge divergent opinions, and be able to resolve conflicts.” He called for stronger efforts “to include young people in policies, programmes and decision-making processes that benefit their future and ours.” This is the spirit that is bringing us all here.
A few months ago, a global conference on ‘Engendering Empowerment: Education and Equality’, assembled in Dakar, adopted an important Declaration in support of the rights of girls to education, gender equality and empowerment opportunities. The Declaration identified gender violence as a key obstacle for the realization of these rights and urged the adoption of effective legislation and policies to ensure a safe and secure learning environment.
Violence and gender violence in schools and in other settings are serious challenges in many parts of the world. Yet they are also clearly condemned by core human rights treaties and conventions. This is why my mandate envisages the protection of children from violence as a human rights imperative and as a core component of the process of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Dear Friends
These are important dimensions of the agenda of the Special Representative on Violence against Children. The Special Representative is a global advocate in favour of the protection of children from all forms of violence. In my mission, I am committed to keep this theme high in the international agenda, to generate visibility and renewed concern at the negative impact of violence on children, to encourage social and behaviour change, and to mobilise support to prevent and combat this child rights violation.
In my work, I act as a bridge builder and a catalyst of actions by a wide network of partners, at the national, regional and international levels, associating United Nations agencies, regional organizations and institutions, including the African Union and the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, involving national governments, civil society organizations, and very especially, engaging with children and young people themselves.
Partnering with critical stakeholders, promoting good practices and sharing experiences between countries and regions, we can accelerate progress worldwide. It is in this spirit that the collaboration with all of you here today gains such a special relevance to fulfilling my mandate. By joining hands together, we can transform violence against children from being a concern of a few into becoming a priority for all.
Protecting children from violence is a very urgent task! As you know, violence is a harsh reality for millions of children around the world; it remains largely invisible and socially accepted, and it has dramatic and long lasting consequences on children’s life and development.
Children witness violence and endure physical, emotional and sexual abuse every day. And yet, children fear reporting, worried they will not be believed or that they may suffer reprisals or stigmatisation as a result. They also do not know where to go or whom to call to benefit from counselling and support, and to see the incidents of violence effectively addressed and impunity combated.
As a result, data on violence against children remains scant and fragmented, national studies are scarce and reporting remains weak and difficult. In the case of violence within the home, the pressure to conceal it is particularly strong, with shame, secrecy and denial leading to a pervasive culture of silence.
This is why I am strongly committed to the development in all countries of safe, child sensitive and accessible counselling, complaint and reporting mechanisms on violence against children; mechanisms children can genuinely trust and before whom they can confidently tell their stories, without fear or publicity, punishment or reprisal.
Over the next few months, I will be working on the development of a thematic report on these mechanisms and I would like to encourage the young participants in this Forum to support this process and reflect, during the discussions of the next few days, on the key dimensions you would like to see captured by that report. Your views will be critical to help promote child friendly, supportive, confidential and effective mechanisms to safeguard children’s right to protection from violence, and to ensure the effective recovery and reintegration of child victims.
A related priority for my work concerns the question of legislation. In many countries of the world, laws are not yet in place to combat violence against children. Violence against children is not prohibited in the school, in the community, in care institutions or in the home; in some countries, judicial decisions still condone the use of measures, such as canning and flogging as a form of sentencing.
It is urgent to change this pattern and the recommendations in the UN Study provide a navigation chart to help us accelerate progress in this area.
In fact, although much remains to be done, the Study recommendations are helping the world to move faster in the development of legislative reforms to protect children from violence.
When the UN Study was finalized, only 16 countries had legislation prohibiting violence against children in all settings, including within the home. Today, many governments have made commitments to move in that direction and several countries are working on the adoption of such an explicit and comprehensive legal ban.
More importantly, the number of countries with a full ban has almost doubled – at present, 29 countries have adopted legislation to this effect. Amongst these, two African nations have very recently joined this leading group. In July, Tunisia became the first African state to prohibit all forms of violence against children, including corporal punishment within the home; through a significant review of its Penal Code, the new law made it a criminal offence to assault a child even lightly. And just a few days ago, Kenya adopted a new Constitution recognizing the right of the child to protection from abuse, neglect, harmful practices, all forms of violence, inhuman treatment and punishment, and hazardous or exploitative labour.
These are excellent developments we need to celebrate! We need to make widely known the successful news of these two African states and promote a much wider process of reform throughout the continent! Together, we can generate a contagious process of lasting reform!
Dear Friends
In all these areas, from the development of advocacy to the promotion law reform, from the establishment of child sensitive mechanisms to the consolidation of sound platforms for genuine child participation, the voices of children are critical and indeed indispensable to achieve progress in the elimination of violence against children.
Let us join hands in making these child rights concerns into a visible priority for all countries in the African continent.
Let us also build upon the important discussions of the next few days to widen, across the continent, the important network of children and young people you represent. The Accra Youth Forum is a critical meeting but marks in addition the birth of a new stage in the collaboration of young people with my Office, as you have recommended in your statement.
I am committed to further strengthening our ties and continuing to learn from your work and reflect together with you on children’s concerns and inspiring recommendations in support of the implementation of the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence against Children.
Dear Participants
Let me thank you all once again for your strong commitment to children’s rights and for your decisive support to building a world fit for children, a world where violence has no place. Let me thank you very especially for the opportunity of joining you in this Youth Forum on Violence against Children.
I wish you a very successful meeting and look forward to following on the outcomes of your excellent discussions.
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