Annual Reports to the General Assembly

The present report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 78/187. The reporting period was a year of wide mobilization that highlighted the continuing need to invest in child protection and well-being as a key accelerator for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In the report, the Special Representative reviews the action taken at the national, regional, and global levels to prevent and end all forms of violence against children, and the results achieved in fulfilling her mandate. The report is focused on the need to tackle poverty as a key driver of violence. Poverty pushes children into such exploitative situations as child labour, child marriage, trafficking, smuggling, sexual exploitation, living in street situations, and recruitment by criminal and armed groups, among others. Social protection is critical to addressing this challenge. Despite many actions taken to address poverty, however, many poor children are still not benefiting from adequate social protection. Ensuring child-sensitive social protection is essential.