Programme
Children and adolescents free from violence
Children and adolescents should be brought up and educated without violence and able to use services that guarantee their protection and access to justice
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The challenge
Children and adolescents face violence at home, in school and in their communities, and thousands live without parental care. The statistics below illustrate the conditions of violence against children:
- In 2015, 73.8 per cent of children aged 9 to 11 and 81.3 per cent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 reported having been victims of psychological or physical violence at some point in their lives.
- In 2016, 26.4 per cent of mothers and 23.1 per cent of fathers used physical punishment on their children.
- In 2012, 8,748 children were living in institutions. Every year that a child under 3 years spends in an institution sets their development back by 4 months.
- In 2011, 832,000 children aged 6 to 13 were working; 37 per cent of 14 to 17-year-olds were working more than 36 hours a week.
- In 2014, 40 per cent of trafficking victims were children and adolescents, the majority of them girls.
The solution
To remove these barriers to the fulfillment of the rights of children and adolescents, UNICEF is working with the Government and civil society partners to:
- define legal instruments;
- promote the establishment of results-based budgeting and budget programmes;
- provide social programmes that are directly aimed at families and the education sector with tried and tested strategies for preventing physical and sexual violence in prioritized regions;
- promote and monitor compliance with the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child;
- strengthen training programmes for those involved in child protection;
- regulate and implement alternatives to detention; and
- ensure that violence against children becomes socially unacceptable.
