UN Human Rights Council 58: UK Statement on Violence Against Children
UK Statement at the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children. Delivered at the 58th HRC in Geneva.
Thank you, Mr President.
The UK welcomes the Special Representative’s report, with its focus on trafficking.
As noted in the report, children are increasingly in vulnerable situations, with growing conflict, displacement and the misuse of digital technologies regularly exposing them to trafficking and violence.
Recently, the UK launched a global campaign to advocate for family care for children around the world and progressively end institutionalisation. We welcome our partnership with the Office of the Special Representative on this issue. Together, we will build a global alliance to achieve sustainable reform of children’s care.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to addressing the cycles of violence, abuse and exploitation faced by children, including trafficking in line with achieving SDG 16.2. This year the UK has supported programmes in India, Philippines, Bangladesh and DRC to raise awareness of the risks of child trafficking and delivering support to survivors.
Madam Special Representative,
How can the international community best support your mandate to end impunity and uphold the rights of children affected by trafficking?
Further, how can we better ensure that our approaches meaningfully consider the expertise and lived experience of children, youth, and survivors of trafficking and violence more broadly?