Thank-you for your strong support and commitment to help end violence against children

New York, 27 June 2018 -  Warm thanks to each and every one of you for your strong support and critical commitment to create a world free from all forms of violence for all children in all settings. While there is still much work to be done, we are seeing important progress to better protect children in countries around the world. A few examples follow:

  • The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes a distinct target within SDG 16, target 16.2: to end all forms of violence against children by 2030
  • Today, more than 90 countries have a strong national policy agenda to prevent and address violence against children 
  • Today, more than 50 countries have a comprehensive legal prohibition of all forms of violence in all settings, including in the home
  • Significant research and consolidated data on violence against children are helping to break the silence around this phenomenon and inform evidence-based action to advance progress
  • And, at the regional level, significant political declarations and action plans on violence against children are being implemented to strengthen and reinforce national efforts.

Thanks to your steady commitment to this shared cause, and through your engagement with our digital media platforms - @SRSGVAC on Twitter and Marta Santos Pais on Facebook - I am honored and humbled to be ranked as the #1 social media influencer across the entire UN system this month by UN Social 500: unsocial500.com/leaderboard/

Next year represents a strategic milestone in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development journey to end violence against children. Three strategic moments in 2019 will provide renewed impetus to accelerate progress towards SDG target 16.2 and the other violence-related SDG targets:

  • July 2019: The High-Level Political Forum will meet to assess progress on the SDGs' implementation, including a review of SDG 16 and its target 16.2
  • September 2019: World leaders will gather under the General Assembly auspices for the first 2030 Agenda Summit to review progress made across all SDGs 
  • November 2019: The UN General Assembly commemorates the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 

Thank-you for helping to make a real difference in children’s lives. Let us continue to work across countries and regions and to redouble our efforts: together we can create a world free from violence for all children and we can secure a world of peace for all!

Marta