EDUCATION PROTECTS
Children have the right to be protected, to live in a healthy environment that promotes positive treatment, free from all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation, discrimination and cruel treatment.
SITUATION
The world’s problems take away their rights. Violence, child marriage, child labour, teenage pregnancy, trafficking and other endemic problems steal their childhood and the chance for a better future.
Violence takes many forms and occurs in all the environments where children are present, at home, in the community, at school, as well as on social media.
And in emergencies, children are most at risk from the worst forms of violence.
This data only represents the tip of the iceberg and the only way to reverse this situation is to prevent, accompany and act. Because education is prevention and prevention heals. And education is always part of the solution.
EVERY YEAR,
one billion children suffer physical, sexual or psychological violence.
GLOBALLY,
160 million children work, 79 million of them in life-threatening jobs.
EVERY YEAR,
12 million girls are forced into marriage – that’s 28 girls forced to marry every minute.
IT IS ESTIMATED THAT
An estimated 2.5 million people are victims of human trafficking. For every victim identified, 20 more go undetected—half of whom are children.
Education protects and prevents. And in order to ensure a world free from violence against children:
We work to end all forms of violence alongside children, young people, their families and their communities.
We support the institutions we work with to put in place systems for prevention, detection and response to all forms of violence against children.
We reinforce the knowledge of children, adolescents, their families, teachers and communities about children’s rights, and about practices harmful to their development and wellbeing.
We call on governments and authorities to improve child protection laws and act to ensure their effective implementation.
We provide schools with learning materials and safe facilities in the most vulnerable areas and in crisis contexts.
We encourage participation and active listening for children in order to learn about, detect and prevent violence and involve them in solutions.
We guarantee protective and safe spaces in emergency situations caused by crises or disasters, when children are even more exposed to violence.
