New York (United Nations). A United Nations report states that half of the total population of children in the world are victims of physical, sexual and psychological violence each year. If we talk about the number then it is about one billion. The United Nations has attributed this to the failure of policies aimed at protecting children. The Global Status Report on Preventing Violence Against Children 2020, released by the United Nations, is the first document of its kind to assess progress made in more than 155 countries under the INSPIRE framework. According to the UN, this framework is a document of seven important points made against violence against children and their prevention.
The report has been jointly prepared by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the special UN representative created to end violence against children. It states that though laws have been enacted for the protection of minors in almost all countries, but less than half the countries strictly enforce them. If we talk about the truth of these rules, about 88 percent of the countries have enacted laws for the protection of children, but they are strictly enforced only in 47 percent of the countries. This figure recorded in this UN report is indeed quite frightening and shocking.
Regarding this report, the head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tadross Adenom Ghebreyes, says that the welfare of children and protecting their health is absolutely essential for our collective health and well-being. According to him, no reason can be justified for the violence against children. He also expressed his displeasure at the fact that this happens when we have all the measures to prevent it. He appealed to all the countries where they could not be strictly enforced despite laws protecting children. He also said that due to the crisis of the current ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the schools have been closed and thae movement of children is restricted in any way.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Four also expressed grief over the violence against children. He said that in these difficult circumstances there are many children who are forced to live with those who have mistreated them. Therefore, it is very important that the scope of efforts to protect children be expanded at this time and beyond. For this, helpline and scheduled social service personnel will have to be included in essential services. The Inspire Framework strategies have seen the most progress in access to schools and registration. According to this report, according to about 54 percent of the countries of the world, it has become possible to do the work of sending all children to school for education.
In this report, violence against children has been described in a very systematic manner. For example, 83 percent of the world’s countries have data on incidents of violence against children, but only 21 percent of them analyze it and make policy to prevent them. More than 80 percent of the countries have national action plans and policies but only 20 percent have the financial resources to implement them effectively. The pace of development in this direction is also very low due to lack of funds and professional ability.
According to UNESCO Director General Audrey Azole, violence and incest has increased on the online medium as well. This is the reason that when the opening phase of schools starts after the Corona epidemic, then there is a sense of fear among the children. According to him, it is very important to understand this and to stop violence in schools and our own society, there is a need to act unitedly.
Apart from this, on this report UN Special Representative Najat Malla Majeed said that to help children, an integrated action plan focusing on child rights in different areas is very important. For this, full cooperation of governments, civil society organizations, private sector, donors and children will be required. According to this report, WHO and other organizations are working with governments of different countries to implement the INSPIRE strategy in this regard. But to do this on a larger scale, it is also necessary to ensure financial and technical cooperation to all countries.
