More investment needed to protect children from violence

ChildFund Alliance has joined other child-focused agencies in calling for greater investment in the protection of children from violence.

With the launch of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) in Ethiopia today, ChildFund believes it is vital that UN member states agree to increased investment in programs to prevent child violence and exploitation.

Research conducted by the Overseas Development Institute finds that the physical, psychological and sexual violence perpetrated against children represents a massive economic burden ‰ÛÒ costing governments globally up to $7 trillion per annum.

This is equivalent to eight per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and more than the GDPs of Australia, Canada, India, and Mexico combined.

ChildFund Australia CEO Nigel Spence said: “We know that the cost of not acting on violence against children is far more expensive than preventing it. Prevention pays.

ChildFund has identified six fundamental lessons on investing in the protection of children from violence:

1. Earmarked funding for the protection of children from violence should be strengthened through domestic resource mobilisation, including child-responsive budgeting, and international public finance.
2. The low levels of investment in protecting children from violence as compared to other sectors should be addressed.
3. National and sub-national levels of government should coordinate and interact on their investments in protecting children from violence, in order to enhance their effectiveness.
4. Investments to protect children from violence should be commensurate to the scale and scope of the problem.
5. Investments in protecting children from violence can be complemented and supported by investments in other sectors.
6. Monitoring and evaluation of investments to protect children from violence should be participatory, and children should be provided with the opportunities to effectively, meaningfully, and safely engage.

The FfD3 in Addis Ababa aims to identify a new financial framework for achieving the sustainable development agenda. This will be followed by the finalisation and adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda in September, which will include a set of Sustainable Development Goals and Targets (SDGs).

Read ChildFund’s report Money Matters: Six Lessons on Investing in the Protection of Children from Violence, here.

You can join the conversation online using #FFD3 and #freefromviolence.