Asia-Pacific

The Regional Meeting of Asia-Pacific, held in Manila, the Philippines, (on 12–13 November) underscored that ending violence against children requires integrated child protection systems, sustainable financing, and a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. Pathfinding countries showcased significant progress on legal reforms, multisectoral coordination, case management, and the expansion of child- and family-focused services at the local level.

Furthermore, they acknowledged the Investment Case Toolkit and the Marketplace for Knowledge Sharing as levers and a peer-learning platform to strengthen, amongst others, budgeting, social service workforce development, child-friendly justice, safe schools, online safety, and climate-resilient protection. They also highlighted persistent challenges, including workforce shortages, territorial and social inequalities, data and accountability gaps, discrimination against marginalized children, and having to manage a decentralized implementation of child protection systems. Participants noted the digital environment, including the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI), as an emerging and evolving threat to children’s safety. The Pathfinding countries, alongside other key stakeholders present at the meeting, including children themselves, committed to deepen regional cooperation and peer learning, embed violence prevention in broader social-protection and human-capital agendas, and accelerate locally led, evidence-based reforms to advance on their common priority of ending violence against children.