NEW YORK (10 October 2024) - Levels of violence against children worldwide are at an all-time high and are on the rise, according to a UN report released today, which emphasizes that by working together, states and stakeholders can reverse this appalling trend.
News
10 October 2024
16 August 2024
New York, 16 August 2024 - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, Najat Maalla M’jid, on Friday, called on the new interim Government in Bangladesh to seize the current transition as an opportunity to address existing gaps in laws and methods to protect children from all forms of abuse and exploitation and from arbitrary detention.
30 July 2024
New York, 30 July 2024 – Child trafficking is one of the most egregious child rights violations, a serious form of violence against children, and a horrific crime that continues to spread and evolve within and across borders. No country is immune to child trafficking; it is a global phenomenon. Despite improvements in policy and practice over the past years, children continue to face alarming rates of exploitation and abuse through this crime.
28 July 2024
New York, 29 August 2024 - We call on all the other states that have not done so yet to follow suit to end all forms of violence against children.
15 July 2024
Bangkok, Thailand, 15 July 2024 – Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children - together with the Committee on the Rights of the Child and UNICEF - congratulates the Royal Thai Government on a major step forward in the nation’s approach to child rights. On 9 July, the Cabinet announced that it had agreed to withdraw Thailand’s reservation on Article 22 in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, thus extending rights protections to embrace refugee children.
11 July 2024
Geneva, 11 July 2024 - As the digital landscape evolves, the safety of children online has become a critical issue. Today, over 2 billion children navigate the digital world, and an additional billion are expected to join soon. The event "Safe Connections: Ensuring Child Safety in the Digital Era" was held in Geneva to address these concerns. This event, organized by Safe Online and Giga, aimed to integrate child online safety into global efforts to provide internet connectivity to schools and communities.
24 April 2024
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Violence Against Children, Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, concluded her first visit to Zambia at the invitation of the Government. During this fruitful mission, the SRSG was accompanied by Honourable Doreen Mwamba, Minister of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) and the UN Country team in Zambia.
15 April 2024
Lusaka, 15 April 2024 – Throughout her 7-day mission, the SRSG had a first-hand engagement with the leadership of the country and stakeholders on efforts to end all forms of violence against children in Zambia, which is a Pathfinding country to end Violence Against Children since 2016. She also undertook various on-site visits to programmes and institutions engaging directly with children, youth, and women as well as front-line social workers.
15 March 2024
Geneva, 13 March 2024 – At the fifty-third session of the Human Rights Council, Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, emphasized the urgent need to protect children in the context of migration and displacement. Her address focused on the theme of “Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, including the right to development.”
06 February 2024
New York, 06 February 2024 - POP (Protection Through Online Participation) aims to understand how children and young people can access safety and protection thanks to their access to the internet. Increasingly, children and youth are turning to the Internet to be safe when at risk of experiencing harm offline or online. POP is collecting evidence on how children and youth are accessing safety through online means from the perspectives of the different stakeholders involved in the protection chain of support.