violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“How is it that Africa, a continent so rich in resources, cultures and values, today fails to protectits own children, its present and future resource?”Young refugee, Eastern and Southern Africa, 2005 IV1and marriage data registries with fullnational coverage should be created andmaintained. States should also createand maintain data on children withoutparental care, and on children in thecriminal justice system. Data should bedisaggregated by sex, age, urban/rural,household and family characteristics,education and ethnicity. States shouldalso develop a national research agendaon violence against children across settingswhere violence occurs, includingthrough interview studies with childrenand parents, with particular attentionto vulnerable groups of girls and boys.The development of a national research agendaon violence against children across settings iscritical for knowledge building and improvedprogramme development. Such plans shouldinclude children, parents, service providersand others, and use a range of methods such asinterview studies, improved reporting and registrationsystems and investigation procedures,and regular surveys, with particular attentiongiven to vulnerable groups of girls and boys.No country can be complacent about violenceagainst children and more research into prevalence,causes, and prevention is needed everywhere.Our ability to determine the magnitude,characteristics, and trends of many forms ofviolence against children is poor, even in industrialisedcountries. All countries must increasetheir capacity to monitor deaths, injuries andbehaviours associated with violence againstchildren to determine whether the problemis getting better or worse, and the associationbetween these trends and various strategies forprevention. Internationally accepted uniformstandards for collecting data on violence againstchildren are needed to enhance comparability,and ensure appropriate ethical safeguards.While some progress has been made in the identificationof effective strategies for preventingsome forms of violence against children in afew countries, additional research is needed toidentify and evaluate policies and programmesthat are appropriate and effective in preventingall forms of violence against children, andespecially for vulnerable girls and boys.12. Strengthen international commitmentI recommend that all States should ratifyand implement the Convention on theRights of the Child and its two OptionalProtocols on the involvement of childrenin armed conflict and on the saleof children, child prostitution and childpornography. All reservations which areincompatible with the object and purposeof the Convention and the OptionalProtocols should be withdrawn in accordancewith the Vienna Declaration andPlan of Action of the World Conferenceon Human Rights of 1993. States shouldratify all relevant international andregional human rights instruments thatprovide protection for children includingthe Convention against Tortureand Other Cruel, Inhuman or DegradingTreatment or Punishment and itsOptional Protocol; the Rome Statuteof the International Criminal Court;the Convention on the Elimination of23An end to violence against children