Joint Statement by ENOC and SRSG on Violence against Children

UN endorses statement issued by ENOC on violence against children

“Stop violence against children” graffiti work, ENYA Forum, Athens, June 2015. Credits: Cyprus

The United Nations have endorsed the recommendations put forward by the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children on tackling violence against children in Europe.

A joint statement to that effect has been issued by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children on the eve of the signing of the Sustainable Development Agenda last weekend in New York. Ending violence against children is one of the goals on this Agenda.

In a joint statement formulated during the 19th annual summit of  ENOC (22-23 September 2015, Amsterdam), the European Ombudspersons for Children (40 Independent Human and Children’s Rights Institutions) are calling on national, European and international leaders to make every effort to combat violence against children.

Violence against children remains one of the major problems in today’s society. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to grow up without violence. Nevertheless, it is estimated that ten million children in Europe (approx. one in ten) experience domestic violence at some point during their childhood. Such abuse can have life-long consequences for the victims. Violence against children increases the risk of poor performance in school, unemployment, poverty, criminal behaviour, radicalization, and health problems like diabetes and depression.

In their joint statement, the Ombudspersons for Children recommend ten measures that European governments can take on board to combat violence against children. These recommendations are based on the common experience in the field of the 40 ENOC members and are supported by the findings of an Europe wide report on “Tackling violence against children in Europe. The way forward“, recently published by the Dutch Ombudsman for Children in collaboration with the Augeo Foundation.

• See the full text of the ENOC 2015 statement on Violence against Children, adopted by the ENOC General Assembly on 24 September 2015 in The Hague, The Netherlands.
• See the full text of the Joint SRSG-ENOC statement on Violence against children here