Together for Girls - Ending Violence Against Children

The project aims to end violence against children with a focus on ending sexual violence against girls. “Together for Girls” is a global public-private partnership that aims to improve the capacity of countries to prevent and respond to violence against children by mobilizing and sustaining a global movement to end the human rights violations public health impacts and long-term individual and social consequences associated with violence against children especially sexual violence against girls. The Government of Canada joined this partnership to help further efforts to end violence against children in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia Pacific and help expand the partnership to Latin America. With Canada’s additional resources UNICEF and the “Together for Girls” partnership aims to implement a Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) in a new partner country (Colombia) and support the action plans in two current partner countries (Tanzania and Cambodia a member of La Francophonie). Project activities include: (1) conducting and supporting a national survey on the magnitude nature and impact of violence against children through VACS; (2) supporting coordinated programme actions in response to completed VACS data in Tanzania and Cambodia; and (3) supporting a monitoring and reporting system in Tanzania and Cambodia and using this information to lead global advocacy and public awareness efforts to draw attention to the problem and promote evidence-based solutions.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) existing laws and policies related to violence against children in participating countries are strengthened brought into greater conformity with international treaties and enforced more effectively; (2) girls and boys have increased educational and economic opportunities and increased knowledge and skills to protect themselves from violence; (3) governments civil society community members and donors demonstrate increased political will resources and support for action to address violence against children in participating countries; and (4) the global community (including donors international agencies policy makers researchers and the general public) increase their collaboration in violence against children prevention and response.