Point of view Governments must scale up action to end violence against children

When we adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we committed to a world that invests in our children, where every girl and boy grows up free from violence, exploitation and neglect. This bold agenda established, for the first time, global targets to end all forms of violence against children, grounded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Today, 10 years on, we must confront a stark reality: we are not on course to achieve those targets.

Each year, half of the world’s children are victims of violence. Bluntly, we are failing to keep a billion girls and boys safe in their homes, schools, communities, care settings and online.

We recognize the complexity of the issue, and we recognize its consequences, often lasting lifetimes and spanning generations. Violence erodes every investment that families, communities and governments make in children, from their education and social inclusion to their mental and physical health. The violence experienced by a billion children today is the same violence that will undermine the health, prosperity and stability of our societies tomorrow.

As ministers and health leaders, we are driven by the possible, by the interventions and investments that can most improve people’s lives. We recognize the fact that violence against children is entirely preventable. And that preventing violence strengthens public health outcomes, social protection systems, community resilience and intergenerational mobility.

Decades of rigorous research, community mobilization and country experience have given us a clear understanding of what works. The INSPIRE framework, coordinated by WHO and partners, provides a proven blueprint of seven strategies – from strengthening norms and laws to supporting parents and caregivers, scaling response services and creating safe school environments. A recent, largest-ever, evidence review on preventing violence against children confirmed unequivocally that INSPIRE strategies work. We are now the first generation in history with the knowledge and tools to deliver sustained reductions in violence at national scale. We have the opportunity, and responsibility, to act.

This is why we are launching the WHO Council of Champions to End Violence Against Children. The first-ever global collective of ministers committed to using the political capital of governments to position violence prevention where it belongs: at the center of national and global health, social development, justice, protection and economic agendas. We are compelled to act by the fact that children who grow up safe are healthier, learn better and are more socially protected, becoming adults who contribute to stronger, more equitable societies.

Together, we, as 10 ministers and the Director-General of WHO, will generate – and demonstrate – political leadership. From the outset, we must confront the dramatic disparity between the scale of the problem and the scale of investment. Whether looking at domestic budgets or funder flows, the power of preventing violence – with its wins for child outcomes from social development to mental health – remains unrecognized and under-resourced. We are committed to prioritizing the problem, increasing funding and intensifying actions to unlock the enabling potential of preventing violence against children.

This year is our proof point. In November 2026, the Second Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children will be hosted by the government of the Philippines. The event will build on the impactful First Global Ministerial Conference in Colombia in 2024, a moment that proved what is possible. Prioritizing and protecting our most promising and vulnerable citizens, mobilizing member states, civil society, citizens and delivering unprecedented commitments to action for children affected by violence.

With the SDG deadline fast approaching, we must do more and do better. The Ministerial Conference in Manila must celebrate success, lock-in progress, elevate expectation and generate concrete commitments, commensurate with the scale of the violence prevention challenge. It represents a moment to scale best-proven INSPIRE strategies, confront the financing gap head-on, strengthen health and social protection systems and ensure that lived experience – of children, young people, civil society and victims of violence – helps shape the solutions so essential to delivering our shared SDG promise.

Let our next moves, as leaders and champions, prove our commitment – redoubling our efforts to work towards a world free from violence and exploitation, just as we pledged, just as each child deserves.

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Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the WHO Director-General. Ministers signing: Evis Sala, Minister of Health and Social Protection, Albania; Anna Karapetyan, Deputy Minister of Justice, Armenia; Alexandre Padilha, Minister of Health, Brazil; Stephanie Rist, Minister of Health, Families, Autonomy and Disabled persons, France; Wafa Bani Mustafa, Minister of Social Development, Jordan; Ahmed Abdulwahab Ahmed Al-Awadhi, Minister of Health, Oman; Teodoro Herbosa, Minister of Health, Philippines; Elia dos Reis Amaral, Minister of Health, Timor-Leste.