In 2015, the United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs); a global framework for addressing the world’s most pressing challenges.
The SDGs are a universal call to action to end
poverty, fight inequality and stop climate change, with each of the 17 goals
including targets and indicators that all UN Member States must achieve by 2030.
For the first time in history, we now have a global
target focused on increasing protection for children. SDG target 16.2
represents a ground-breaking commitment by UN Member States to end all forms of
violence and exploitation against children (EVAC).
This commitment to end violence against
children is also integrated into other global goals, such as ending child labour
(SDG 8) and achieving quality education and safe learning environments (SDG 4).
The ChildFund Alliance actively contributed to
the positioning of SDG target 16.2 as a core element within the 2030 agenda.
Our 3-year Free from Violence and Exploitation
campaign included consultations with children in over 50 countries. This gave
young people around the world the opportunity to share their vision for the
future, as well as their views on the violence and exploitation perpetrated
against them.
Their call for a safer world for children has
guided ChildFund’s efforts to promote implementation of target 16.2.
Since the adoption of the SDGs, a group of leading
agencies (including the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank) have developed the INSPIRE
Strategies.
These present a broad range of economic,
political and social evidence-based approaches that governments and their
partners can use to turn target 16.2 into action. Already, 26 Member States
have made a formal commitment to action to end all forms of violence against
children.
Building on ChildFund Alliance’s decades of
experience in child protection programming, its 11 members are now implementing
a range of projects around the world focused on EVAC.
The ChildFund Alliance is also calling on
governments to further advance progress towards the achievement of SDG target
16.2 and other violence-related targets. In particular, we are urging
governments to take the following actions:
Analyse gaps in child protection
systems and create and implement policies to address those gaps and end
violence against children.
Increase financial commitments and
actual investment to end violence against children.
Meaningfully involve children in the
development and implementation of child protection policies, as well as within
SDG review processes.
Effectively prevent and respond to
violence against children by adopting evidence-based INSPIRE strategies and
demonstrate leadership on ending violence against children.
Report on target 16.2 and related
targets in SDG monitoring and evaluation efforts.
At the ChildFund Alliance, we know that violence against children is preventable, but action is needed by all stakeholders – governments, civil society organisations, children and youth – if we are to build safer communities and realise a world free from violence for all young people.
Having
grown up in a poor family in Portugal, Sydney resident Maria da Graca Guerreiro
knows all too well how much a little money in Australia can go for children in
need overseas.
She
has been donating to charities since she began working at the age of 18, and
over the past eight years has been sponsoring two children through ChildFund.
A
couple of years ago, upon retiring from a 40-year career at the University of
Sydney managing and designing postgraduate courses, Maria decided to leave a gift
in her will to ChildFund.
“It’s brilliant that I have earned enough money that there is
something left there to keep going and helping children after I’ve gone,” Maria,
61, says. “That’s important to me; once I’m gone and I can’t give any longer,
at least I’ve left something for ChildFund to continue making a difference.
“It may not be a lot of money here,
but it’s a lot of money to help people overseas. Even with a small amount here,
you can do a lot in the communities overseas.”
Shaped by a childhood of poverty
Maria noticed
the impacts of poverty early in her life. Although her family home was in a
wealthy area in Portugal’s capital of Lisbon, she and her parents lived in a
modest home.
“We
were renting a place from this old, well-off lady,” Maria says. “The place didn’t
have any electricity. We didn’t have a bathroom; the toilet was all the way
down the backyard and it was hole in the ground with a door. To have a bath, we
would boil a lot of water and put it into a big bowl.”
Maria
remembers often being drawn to helping people on the streets.
With
her mother she would often make sandwiches for people who were homeless, and
donate her ice cream money to people with disability begging at the local
marketplace.
“Poverty was always obvious to me,” Maria says. “I would always
notice if someone had hardly any clothes, or holes in their clothes. We were
poor, but we were never that poor.
“I
just couldn’t understand why I had food, and why I was ok. It just seemed
unfair. It used to kill me to see them like that.”
Maria’s
passion to help others runs in her blood; her mother has been one of the
greatest sources of inspiration in her life. Despite having lost both parents
as a child and surviving a violent marriage, her mother was loving and
generous.
“Sometimes
the kindest people have the hardest life,” Maria says. “But they give you
strength because you think, they’ve gone through so much and they can still be
good people.
“My
mother’s life was difficult from the moment she could walk; she never had
anyone to love and no one to care for her until I came along. But my mother was
never cynical. She gave everything she had.”
Maria flew her mother from Portugal to Australia several years ago, and they spent her mother’s last years of life together in Sydney.
Today,
Maria lives in a comfortable home in Sydney’s inner west with her loyal dog,
Princess, whom she rescued from a shelter
12 years ago.
When
it came to writing her will, leaving a bequest to ChildFund was an easy
decision that she made alone. “I don’t have any children and thank goodness my
brother is OK; he works and so does my sister-in-law, so they don’t really need
it,” Maria says.
She
says trust and credibility are key when it comes to leaving a bequest to a
charity.
“If
someone is considering leaving a bequest I would say go for it, but make sure
it’s an institution that you know are going to do some good with the money,”
Maria says. “I would suggest the charities that I support.
“Leaving
a bequest to ChildFund has been important to me. I know it will be used wisely.
ChildFund is aware of where the poverty is and where the difficulties are, and
will allocate the money according to the need.
“It’s not
just giving to a child; the money supports the entire community. It sets up children
and their families to be self-sufficient. They need food and medicine, but they
also need schools to be able to go further.
“It’s making a huge difference to quite a few people, not just one or two people.”
A final gift
For
Maria, there is no better feeling than knowing she will leave behind a legacy
that will help children and families in need.
“There’s no money in the world that you have that will make you feel
that good,” she says. “It’s important to me that I’m doing something
worthwhile.”
Despite
growing up in a poor family Maria considers herself lucky, and encourages her
friends and family, who have the means, to also leave a gift in their will to
ChildFund.
She is
hoping her own decision will inspire others to do the same. “All you can do is
talk about it and hopefully they’ll get a message,” Maria says.
“It’s a matter of using your head: why are you
leaving to someone who has got so much? Give it to someone who needs it. That’s
my philosophy.
“I’m
so lucky to have everything that I have. I think it’s my responsibility to
share it.
“The world needs more money for the ones who
need it. Hopefully with time, we can make a difference.”
“I’m
grateful for organisations like ChildFund that are there to be able to do the
things that us individuals would not be able to do alone.
We advocate for children’s rights worldwide and partner with local communities to create change which enables children and young people to assert and realise their rights.
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