When governments adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we committed to a world that invests in our children, where every girl and boy grows up free from violence, exploitation and neglect. Establishing, for the first time, global targets to end all forms of violence against children, grounded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.Today, 10 years on, we must confront a stark reality: we are not on course to achieve those targets.Each year, half of the world’s children are victims of violence. Bluntly, we are failing to keep a billion girls and boys safe in their homes, schools, communities, care settings and online.We recognise the complexity of the issue, and we recognise its consequences, often lasting lifetimes and spanning generations. Violence erodes every investment that families, communities, and governments make in children, from their education and social inclusion to their mental and physical health. The violence experienced by a billion children today is the same violence that will undermine the health, prosperity, and stability of our societies tomorrow.As Ministers, we are driven by the possible, by the interventions and investments that can most improve people’s lives. We are motivated by the fact that violence against children is entirely preventable. And that preventin …
