2010-04-04

Action on Violence Against Children

The United Nations Secretary-General's Study on Violence Against Children, published in 2006, inspired events around the world. A report by the Child Rights Information Network gives an account of action beyond the UN study:
"The Middle East held its very own launch of the Arabic version of the violence study, while the Council of Europe launched its campaign against corporal punishment [link] aiming to achieve a Europe free from corporal punishment.

A first regional conference on sexual abuse of children was held in Africa and a global conference on violence against the girl-child was held in the Netherlands."

A Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against Children was appointed in May 2009.

In January 2010, 34 Islamic scholars in West Africa signed a fatwa (i.e. a religious decree) banning the practice of female genital mutilation, stating that the procedure has been proven to be harmful either at the time or subsequently.

More follow-up actions are described in the report:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=22668