Ending violence against children
Project
EVAC
Partners
World Health Organization
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation: CIFF
The Brief
Every year, one in two children across the globe are subjected to violence. From sexual abuse, to bullying, gang violence, child marriage, online harm, violent discipline, and child labour, acts of violence take many forms – all leaving scars that can last a lifetime.
Violence against children erodes every investment made in their future, from education to physical and mental health, affecting societies on a global scale. However, we have the tools and knowledge to ensure that every child has a safe and happy childhood – and in May 2024 we launched the “In Our Hands” campaign to do just that.
In the lead up to the first-ever high-level Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children that took place in Colombia in November 2024, we aimed to contribute actionable change. Our goal was to inspire ministers from across the world to make meaningful policy and financial pledges, demonstrating a strong commitment to safeguarding the rights and safety of children globally.
The Approach
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Working closely with The World Health Organisation, we designed and delivered a campaign to complement collective policy and advocacy efforts at national, regional, and global levels by building external pressure on decision-makers ahead of the first-ever Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children. The campaign had three key phases:
- Campaign Launch: the dedicated website went live and was accompanied by social media amplification from partners across the sector.
- Open Letter to World Leaders: Survivors, advocates and allies from across the world came together to release an Open Letter demanding action to end violence against children. The letter was signed by actors Will Poulter, Forest Whitaker, Úrsula Corberó, and Gilian Anderson; leading experts including Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Dr Denis Mukwege and Kailash Satyarthi; the CEOs of the 6 largest child-focused NGOs; youth activists and many more.
- UNGA Week of Action: On the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly we brought together decision makers for a high-level dinner to encourage leaders to attend the Ministerial Conference with big, bold pledges. Ministers, survivors and young people attended, including Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex; HRH Queen Mathilde of Belgium; and government leaders from around the world, including Sweden, Colombia, Zimbabwe, Georgia, Canada, Belgium, Iceland, Brazil and the UK.
‘Working with Project Everyone met two important metrics; ‘impact’ and ‘joy’. A creative, strategic and hard-working team helped drive forward our objectives on ending violence against children in ways that we could only imagine and made a critical contribution to our campaign success.’
The Results
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Each phase of the campaign had extensive reach and high levels of engagement. During the initial launch 160 NGOs, sector leaders and UN Agencies, used the campaign toolkit to participate in social media action – with a combined audience reach of 6.3 million. The Open Letter achieved remarkable visibility with significant media coverage across a wide range of global regions. We secured 6,672 pieces of coverage from a global newswire sendout – including major outlets like Associated Press (USA), National Post (Canada), and Egypt Gazette (Egypt) – as well as additional in-depth press coverage featuring interviews with spokespeople and letter signatories. Highlights included an in-depth interview with signatory Dr. Daniela Ligiero which was published both online and in print for O Globo Brazil, interview with survivor and signatory Lydia Matioli published by The Standard Kenya, and in-depth coverage featuring comment by survivor and signatory Dr. Bukola Ogunka in Vanguard Nigeria.
An abridged version of the letter also featured in leading publications The Times (UK), Punch and Vanguard (Nigeria), Kompas (Indonesia), The Daily Nation (Kenya) and Folha de São Paulo (Brazil), with a combined circulation of over 5 million. At the Ministerial Conference, over 100 commitments were made by governments around the world to protect children from devastating violence:
- Kenya plans to reach 2 million people by 2027 with a national parenting program
- Dominica pledged 12 support classes for all new parents
- The Philippines pledged 3% of their national budget to tackling violence against children
- Eight governments made commitments on corporal punishment, translating to 138 million children being protected by corporal punishment bans
- Iceland will introduce parenting classes in all pre-schools and elementary schools
- The UK will launch a global task force to end violence in schools
- Governments around the world including Estonia, Colombia, and Gambia pledged to improve online protection for children
OTHER WORK
The colourful Global Goals pillars remained in position for 17 days, with high profile visits from Blessing Omakwu, Deputy Director, Goalkeepers, Gates Foundation, Lili Buffet, philanthropist, Ann Rosenberg, Senior Vice President for Sustainable Development at Wood plc, and Jerome Barth, President, Fifth Avenue Association. Social content of the pillars reached over 31,000 social accounts across Global Goals channels and installation received press attention, including coverage from CFDA and WWD.