WHO partners with 9 organisations to end Violence Against children

The World Health Organization has launched a package of measures that they said could dramatically reduce violence against children. Its seven-point strategy: limiting access by young people to firearms; changing beliefs about gender roles; creating safe environments including better housing; increasing caregiver support; strengthening economies; shoring up support services such as treatment programs for juvenile offenders; and educating children in life skills.

The new partnership and fund will promote these strategies in an effort to make reducing violence a public priority and a collective responsibility. Through the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, governments, foundations, civil society groups, academia and the private sector can pool resources and expertise to make progress toward these goals.

The plan being adopted by the WHO and partner organizations, including UNICEF, USAID and the World Bank, draws on work by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The WHO, citing statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said as many as 1 billion children around the world had experienced physical, sexual, or psychological violence in the past year.