Despite the existence of international protections, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a staggering one billion children face violence each year.
ChildFund Alliance and its members are determined to create a world where every child feels safe and protected. A core pillar of our collective strategy is protecting children from violence in the home and community, in schools, online, and in times of crisis, including when faced with the impacts of a rapidly changing climate.
In November 2024, ChildFund representatives attended the first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children. This historic gathering provided an unparalleled opportunity for world leaders to commit to policies and actions to protect all children from violence, and ensure we can meet Sustainable Development Goal Target 16.2: end the abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children by 2030.
Violence against children is a pervasive global crisis which claims the life of a child every seven minutes.
The economic impacts of violence against children are estimated to be as much as USD$7 trillion annually.
Without ending violence against children, we will not achieve 11 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
There is an urgent need for immediate and comprehensive policy interventions to end violence against children.
Our commitment to ending violence against children
With more than 80 years of collective experience, ChildFund Alliance’s commitment and expertise serve as a powerful force to help children and families around the world transform their lives.
Our Free from Violence campaign successfully advocated for the inclusion of a specific target to end child abuse and exploitation in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Today, the eleven members of ChildFund Alliance are working in partnership with nearly 30 million children and their families in 70 countries to create environments where children are safe and protected from harm, with a focus on the following five key areas:
1. Safe at home and in the community
2. Safe at school
3. Safe online
4. Safe in times of crisis
5. Safe in a changing climate
Learn more about our priority programs and how ChildFund members are working to end violence against children; work with government authorities; leaders in the tech industry and the broader digital community; and with civil society to advance these calls to action.
Our call to action
The scale and long-lasting effects of violence against children underscore the urgent need for immediate and comprehensive policy interventions.
ChildFund Alliance is calling on national governments, the corporate sector, civil society, and other stakeholders to prioritize actions to prevent, and respond to, all forms of violence against children.
Read our policy asks.
Further reading
Ending Violence Against Children: summary
Ending Violence Against Children: full report
World Health Organization Inspire Strategies
ChildFund Alliance Strategic Plan
Working in partnership with others to end violence against children
The Civil Society Forum to End Violence against Children is a broad coalition of civil society organizations, including ChildFund Alliance, operating at national, regional and global levels to advocate for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.2 and other SDG targets to end violence against children.
ChildFund is a member of Joining Forces, an alliance of the six largest child-focused agencies. We use our collective power to end violence against all children and secure the rights of every child.
ChildFund is a member of the WeProtect Global Alliance, a global movement of governments, companies and charities working together to transform the global response to child sexual exploitation and abuse online.