In October 2023, the Board of the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children decided to sunset the Partnership in its existing form and to transition its workstreams to new arrangements.

Taking into account the strong demand from partners for the workstream on Pathfinding countries to be sustained and strengthened, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children was requested to lead this workstream. This in keeping with the Special Representative’s mandate from the General Assembly to act as a catalyst to stimulate the engagement of Member States and to support Member States in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/73/155).

In close collaboration with the UN system and civil society partners, the Special Representative has begun a process of consultation on how to move forward with the Pathfinding initiative, ensuring that the process is led and owned by Member States. Preparations are underway to take stock of progress made and remaining challenges to better define in a participatory way a roadmap for accelerating and monitoring action to end violence against children, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These consultations will also define an accountability framework for the Pathfinding initiative.

The Special Representative will work to ensure complementarity with other workstreams under transition that had been established within the framework of the Global Partnership to End Violence against Children. The other workstreams are Safe Online, Safe to Learn (both hosted by UNICEF) and End Corporal Punishment (hosted by WHO).