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To promote the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, the President of the General Assembly hosted a High Level Forum “Sowing the Seeds of the Culture of Peace: Early Childhood Development is the Beginning”, at UN Headquarters, New York.

In her remarks to the Forum, SRSG Santos Pais highlighted that investment in early childhood is crucial both to ensure children's development and to build peaceful and inclusive societies around the world. "Early childhood is where everything starts and it is also where investment can achieve the highest returns.”

Special Representative Santos Pais welcomes the launch of the New Zanzibar Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children, 2017-2022. The National Plan builds on the country's initial response to the findings of the Violence Against Children data survey carried out in 2009 to advance implementation of the recommendations made by the UN Study on Violence against Children. It represents the culmination of a very comprehensive process of consultation and collaboration between government, UN agencies, development partners, NGOs and civil society stakeholders in developing a strategic framework that provides an overall vision and costed set of agreed actions to address violence against women and children in Zanzibar.

report_secretary_general_progress_agenda2030_2017.pdf

Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/1, the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the United Nations system, has the honour to submit the report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The report provides a global overview of the current situation of the Goals, on the basis of the latest available data for indicators in the global indicator framework.

secretary-general-sdg-report-2016--EN.pdf

Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/1, the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the United Nations system, has the honour to submit the report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The present report is the first annual report on the topic and provides a global overview of the current situation
regarding the Sustainable Development Goals, on the basis of the latest available data for indicators in the proposed global framework. The report also highlights the theme of the 2016 session of the high-level political forum on sustainable development, convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, “Ensuring that no one is left behind”, through examples of disaggregated data that pinpoint where specific population groups are lagging behind. Finally, the report provides information on the methodologies used for the compilation of global indicators as well as an overview of data availability and statistical challenges.

SRSG Santos Pais welcomes the greater visibility given to the promotion and protection of children’s rights, including their right to freedom from all forms of violence, in the Ministerial Declaration of the 2017 High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

“The HLPF is an important opportunity to place children at the heart of the 2030 Agenda. The Declaration reaffirms the commitment of the international community to children, especially in ending poverty, ensuring healthy lives, achieving gender equality, promoting child participation, and eliminating all forms of violence and discrimination, including harmful practices. Only by placing children first in actions to implement the 2030 Agenda and investing in all dimensions of their wellbeing including a protective environment, can we realize its vision of a world free from fear and from violence” said Santos Pais.

Joining a conversation with leaders during the High Level Political Forum, SRSG calls for sound investment in children to end child poverty and violence against children, stressing that "the best way to leave no child behind is to place children first".

SRSG Santos Pais today joined a high-level side-event where leaders discussed the intersection between ending poverty and violence against children and their crucial contribution to the achievement of the SDGs. The event was jointly hosted by the SRSG, UNICEF, the Governments of Indonesia and Sweden and high profile speakers included the President of Chile, the Indonesian Minister of National Development Planning, the Swedish Minister of Public Administration and the Minister for Social Affairs of Chile.

Conclusions and Recommendations 2017.pdf

We, the participants in the Seventh Cross-Regional Meeting for advancing the protection of children from violence, “Placing Children at the Heart of the Sustainable Development Agenda: Accelerating Progress in Children’s Protection from Violence”, promoted by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children (SRSG on VAC) and hosted with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)1 during its 50th anniversary under the chairmanship of the Philippines; coming from the Council of Europe Secretariat; the Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat; the Inter-American Children’s Institute of the Organization of American States (IIN-OAS); the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC); SACG (South Asia Coordinating Group on Action against Violence against Children); the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); the African Child Policy Forum and the Global Movement for Children of Latin Amer

SRSG Santos Pais joined representatives from the European Union, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, governments, ombuds, civil society and Children’s Houses in the launch of PROMISE- the European Barnahus Movement. 

The impact of violence against children in Europe is worrying – every year across the European region, at least 18 million suffer from sexual abuse; 44 million from physical abuse; and 55 million from mental abuse. In her statement, SRSG Santos Pais stressed that “shocking as these figures may be, they are an underestimation and it is believed that 90% of child maltreatment may go unnoticed.”

The Special Representative welcomes the 2017 theme for the Day of the African Child (DAC) on accelerating protection, empowerment and equal opportunities for all children in Africa by 2030.

Over two years ago, the global sustainable development agenda was unanimously adopted by Member States of the United Nations to uphold the rights, dignity and worth of each and every child. The vision of the Agenda is aligned with the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063 and the African Agenda for Children 2040 which seeks to invest in children and ensure that every child grows up free from all forms of violence and develops to their full potential. 

Attacks against children with albinism are not limited by geographic borders. In many countries, particularly in Africa, children with albinism are often perceived as ghosts, a curse, a cause of shame to the family, and a misfortune to the community. Social and structural discrimination condemns these children to a position of extreme vulnerability and to tolerance of violence against them simply because they look different.

Children with albinism are often the target of witchcraft accusations which leads to their body parts being used for ritual purposes, in some cases fuelling incidents of trafficking and sale of children.