9th High-Level Cross-Regional Roundtable on the Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Children meets for the first time in Africa

New York, 21 February 2019 - The Ninth High-Level, Cross-Regional Roundtable convened by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, and co-hosted with the African Child Policy Forum, will take place from 26-28 February at the headquarters of the African Union, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“The Ninth Cross-Regional Roundtable is being held at a very auspicious time,” said SRSG-VAC Marta Santos Pais. “Indeed, 2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified treaty in the history of the United Nations. In July, the High Level Political Forum will meet under the theme “Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality,” offering a unique occasion to invest in the empowerment of children and promote their wellbeing and protection as a critical indicator of progress. And, in September the first Heads of State Summit organized under the auspices of the UN General Assembly will take place to review progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and provide guidance for the years ahead. Children and their protection from violence must be placed at the center of this year’s important processes.”

The Cross-Regional Roundtable is a strategic platform organized annually by the SRSG on Violence against Children to promote information-sharing and cross-fertilization of experiences between regional organizations and institutions to strengthen children’s protection from violence around the world, and to advance progress towards reaching SDG target 16.2, to end all forms of violence against children, as well as other violence-related targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

During this year’s Cross-Regional Roundtable, representatives of regional organizations and institutions will identify strategic actions to mobilize support for, and contribute to, the High-Level Political Forum and General Assembly Summit in the overall framework of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Special emphasis will also be placed on taking stock of progress made on the prevention and response to incidents of violence against children, as well as on safeguarding a continuum of protection for children on the move, in the framework of the Global Compacts on Migration and on Refugees and of the African Union decision to promote 2019 as the ‘Year of Refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in Africa: towards durable solutions to forced displacement’.

The Ninth Cross-Regional Roundtable will welcome high-level representatives from: the African Union; ECOWAS; African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child;  ECOWAS; East African Community; Southern African Development Community; the League of Arab States; the Inter-American Children’s Institute; MERCOSUR-IPPDH; SICA; Council of Europe; Council of Baltic Sea States; United Nations agencies and bodies; UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; WeProtect Global Alliance; Global Movement for Children Latin America and Caribbean; as well as Plan International, ECPAT International; and, Save the Children, in addition to the African Child Policy Forum and Office of the SRSG-VAC.  

The Cross-Regional Roundtable is being held in Africa for the first time. Previous sessions were hosted in South Asia, East Asia, Europe, Caribbean and at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Conclusions and recommendations from previous sessions can be found here: https://violenceagainstchildren.un.org/cross_regional_roundtables

Photo credit: @UNICEF Ethiopia