About WWSF | Contact us | Become a member/sponsor | Events | Español | Français

2009 Poster and Call to Action  
2008 Poster and Call to Action  
2007 Poster and Call to Action  
2006 Poster and Call to Action  
2005 Poster and Call to Action  
2004 Poster and Call to Action  
2003 Poster and Call to Action  
2002 Poster and Call to Action  
2001 Poster and Call to Action  
2000 Poster and Call to Action  

Dear Members, Partners, Friends,

We thank you for registering as an active or supportive coalition member in this year's global campaign for prevention of child abuse and violence against children. WWSF acknowledges not only the progress achieved in making prevention of child abuse a priority over the last 8 years, but also the commitment of so many dedicated actors and partners: many among the 710 organizations from 119 countries that marked and/or supported the Day last year sent us reports of activities and events, focusing on either physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse, neglect and violence. Global impact reports are published on our web site
www.woman.ch/children/1-coalitionimpact.php.
However, despite all our collective efforts child abuse and violence against children are on the rise and manifest in new ways. Today, the issue of media violence deserves high attention considering the importance of the damage done to millions of children who are exposed to it on a daily basis. It is for this reason that we chose to focus this year on protecting children from media violence with recommendations for activities to alert your members, civil society as a whole, governments as well as the media to center efforts to reduce child exposure to violence in the mass media.
You are however free to organize events that you feel need prioritizing in your countries and we wish you great success with your 2007 programs and hope that our Call to Action mentioned below is helpful in planning your campaign projects.
Laure Maitrejean, Global program co-ordinator - WWSF Children's Section

Call to Action . Call to Action . Call to Action

Definition:

"Media" includes the whole range of modern communications: television, the cinema, video, radio, photography, advertising, newspapers and magazines, recorded music, computer games, the Internet, etc.

Convention on the Rights of the Child:
Article 17 identifies specific responsibilities for the media and states: "States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health."

The core message of the Study is that no violence against children is justifiable. All violence against children is preventable. There can be no compromise. Therefore, member states, all sectors of society and all individuals must commit themselves to ensure protection from all forms of abuse and violence against children.

Overarching recommendations

Actions that all States must take to prevent violence against children and to respond to it effectively if it occurs:

1. Strengthen national and local commitment and action
2. Prohibit all violence against children
3. Prioritize prevention
4. Promote non-violent values and awareness-raising
5. Enhance the capacity of all who work with and for children
6. Provide recovery and social reintegration services
7. Ensure the participation of children
8. Create accessible and child-friendly reporting systems and services
9. Ensure accountability and end impunity
10. Address the gender dimension of violence against children
11. Develop and implement systematic national data collection and research
12. Strengthen international commitment

Call for the appointment of a Special Representative to the Secretary- General on violence against children

The NGO Advisory Council for follow up to the UN Study issued a call for action requesting organizations around the world to sign up to the statement supporting the appointment of a Special Representative to the Secretary-General on violence against children. The goal is to have at least 1000 organizations endorse the statement by September 15, 2007, representing all countries in the world. The statement will then be presented at the UN during the General Assembly to demonstrate the strength of NGO support for a Special Representative. If your organization has not yet signed on, please do so right away. Sign the petition and see the full list of signatories:
http://www.crin.org/violence

The Independent Expert has prioritized for 2007 the following five overarching recommendations and requests partners to provide information on substantial lines of action that have been taken to follow up on the Study:

1. Integration in national planning processes of measures to prevent and respond to violence against children, including the appointment of a focal point to foster the implementation of this plan
2. Strengthening of legal frameworks in conformity with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly galvanizing support for the prohibition of all forms of violence
3. Prevention of violence
4. Promotion of the participation of children and structures to support it
5. Strengthening of data collection and research

In addition:

• Widely disseminate the Study findings, recommendations and products.
• Identify and disseminate proven and promising practices - with particular attention to sharing these and promoting scaling up
• Strengthen networks and information sharing

Prof. Pinheiro will also continue discussion with UN member states and all other relevant partners to define a feasible medium term follow up framework which considers actions at national, regional, and international levels.

WWSF supports the full implementation of the Study's recommendations and commits to annually raise awareness, lobby Governments to urgently commit to end all forms of abuse and violence against children and to establish national protection systems that include the elimination of violence as a priority goal.

A Call to make prevention of abuse & violence against children a priority.

Because the year 2007 must be a new beginning with the adoption of the General Assembly Resolution of the UN Study on violence against children

Because a culture of prevention is needed to help implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Because prevention demands of each and every one of us to take a stand and become an active agent for change for the creation of a world fit for children

Because we are aware of our share of responsibility, we pledge in our daily lives, families, places of work, communities, countries and regions, to

Prioritize prevention by

• Prohibiting abuse and violence against children in all its forms (physical, sexual, emotional and neglect)
• Strengthening international, national and local commitment and action
• Raising awareness that violence against children is a violation of children's rights and encouraging citizens to challenge it
• Promoting non-violent values and good examples of prevention programs (WWSF Clearinghouse)
• Participating with local activities and events marking the annual World Day for prevention of child abuse 19 November
• Sharing effective measures for preventing child abuse and combating violence through legislation and national action plans for the UN Study recommendations to be successful
• Reminding States regularly of the overarching UN Study recommendations and urging them to demonstrate political will by providing adequate resources to deliver concrete results

WWSF received many interesting applications that made the selection very difficult. For this reason, two first prizes were awarded. Below are the names of the four laureate organizations that received the prize for their innovative prevention activities (description of their work and programs are published on Internet www.woman.ch

Two First Prizes (US$ 3000 each)

• Tulir Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse - Tulir CPHCSA, India
• Queen Rania Family & Child Center at Jordan River Foundation, Jordan

Two additional awards (US$ 500 each)

• Association Najdeh, Lebanon
• Cercle de Réflexion et d'Action pour Christ - CRAC, Togo

Geneva's one week activities, 18-23 November

"Child abuse is a global problem - one that has no respect for boundaries of geography, culture, or creed. Every year, tens of thousands of children are murdered and millions more are brutalized, often by the very people who should love them most, and on whom their survival depends. Too often, the suffering of these innocent victims goes unnoticed and unaddressed, hidden behind closed curtains and doors of secrecy, silence and shame. That is why this World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse is so important. By raising awareness, we can help stop child abuse and neglect before they start."
- Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, (2006)

"[...] We have to recognize the work done by WWSF (Women's World Summit Foundation), an NGO we need to respect for its commitment for global prevention, for catalyzing innovative programs for prevention of child abuse thanks to its annual 4 Prize awards, and for making 19 November "The World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse".I take pleasure in encouraging everyone among us to support its activities."
- Jean Zermatten,
Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child,
Director of the International Institute for the Rights of the Child IDE (2007)

WWSF annually prints 10'000 Calls to Action, posters and relevant information (4 languages) which are mailed to all active and supportive coalition members. In addition, each year, WWSF publishes a global activity report of coalition members programs and events. .All documents are available on Internet.

Definition: Child abuse includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse as well as neglect, violence and exploitation of a child.

Convention on the Rights of the Child (www.unicef.org/crc/)
Article 34: States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent:

• (a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity;
• (b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices;
• (c) The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.

Article 35: States Parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.
Use of World Day logo: Reproduction of the 19 November logo for information sharing is permitted provided that the name of the global convener WWSF is mentioned (without any modification). Reproduction of the 19 November logo for fundraising purposes requires written permission from WWSF. WWSF declines all responsibility for legal, financial, administrative or moral liabilities, which may result from events organized by coalition members and other actors on the World Day.

Selected
Facts & Figures (UN sources)

• 40 million children suffer from abuse and neglect.
• 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 9 boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18.
• Approx. 2 million children are used in the sex industry each year.
• More than 1 million images of tens of thousands of sexually abused children are posted on Internet.
• Victims of child sex abuse are at greater risk of being involved in commercial sexual exploitation as a means to survive.
• In 184 countries, over 50% have no laws addressing child pornography. In 138 countries, possession of child pornography is not a crime.
• Between 60 million and 100 million girls are 'missing' from the world's population. They are victims of gender based infanticide, malnutrition, and neglect.
• 3 million girls are subject to Female Genital Mutilation each year.
• Some 180 million children work in the worst forms of child labour.
• Over 120 million children will never go to school. 6 out of 10 are girls.
• 300'000 children work as soldiers, transporters, and mine detectors, among other violations.

Sponsor acknowledgement: WWSF is most grateful for support received in 2007 from the OAK Foundation, the Principality of Liechtenstein Foreign Affairs, City of Geneva, Vivre Autrement, Office Fédéral des Assurances Sociales OFAS (CH), Geneva Commune Plan-les-Ouates, Loterie Romande, Point Prod, among others for their financial support towards the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse campaign, Prize award program and TV spots.

Dear Friends,

I am delighted to send my warm greetings and best wishes to all 2007 active and supporting coalition members that registered to mark the World Day on 19 November. For the past 8 years, WWSF has built up a global partnership network of governmental and non-governmental organizations, grassroots groups and institutions of all sorts to help build a culture of prevention of abuse and violence against children. When we think of the sheer numbers of children being abused and exploited around the world on a daily basis, our mission can seem overwhelming.

Yet from the start, WWSF has recognized that PREVENTION needs to be the hallmark of reducing abuse and violence. WWSF Board Directors are empowered by the many examples of best practices of local and national programs and join me in honoring you for your commitment and participation in creating a world fit for children and respecting children's rights. I salute you and congratulate you on your contributions to use the World Day as an effective focal point for better prevention of abuse and violence against children.

Elly Pradervand,
WWSF Founder / Executive Director