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Dec/Jan 2010Vol. 10, No. 10UNICEF Releases International Data on Maltreatment

A worldwide report on global efforts to protect children was recently released by UNICEF. Progress for Children: A Report Card on Child Protection represents an extensive effort to provide comprehensive estimates on the nature and extent of the violations of children's rights while proposing clear recommendations for preventive actions.

Guided by the provisions and principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF adopted a new protection strategy that builds on an international framework for child protection and the recommendations of the United Nations' Secretary-General's Study on Violence Against Children. The strategy centers on the following areas of child protection:

  • Improving child protection systems
  • Promoting social change
  • Enhancing child protection in emergencies
  • Partnering for greater impact
  • Building evidence

Based on the results of survey data compiled by UNICEF and its partners, this report pulls together international data for the first time on a number of international key indicators. Some of these indicators include:

  • Violence against children
  • Child marriage
  • Female genital mutilation/cutting
  • Child labor
  • Sexual exploitation and abuse of children
  • Child trafficking
  • Children with disabilities
  • Children without parental care
  • Landmines, explosive remnants of war, and small arms

While the data show that there has been some progress in some areas of the world in raising the age of child marriage and in reducing female genital mutilation, there is still much to be done. The report concludes with a call to action to build a protective environment for children around the world.

Progress for Children: A Report Card on Child Protection is available on the UNICEF website: 

www.unicef.org/media/files/Progress_for_Children-No.8_HiRes_EN_USLetter_08132009.pdf  (2.34 MB)