EU Statement – UN General Assembly 3rd Committee: Interactive dialogue on Violence against Children

Madam Special Representative,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The EU would like to thank you for your work and to reiterate our full support for your mandate.

We share your report’s assessment that children’s vulnerability to violence has continued to be aggravated by overlapping crises, conflicts, and natural disasters. We share the concerns, presented in your report, that with just seven years left until the final year of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world is not on track to end all forms of violence against children. The detrimental lifelong impact on children and the heavy economic cost should serve as a wakeup call for governments. The remaining effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty, the climate crisis, as well as conflicts such as the Russian aggression against Ukraine, all impact the safety of children and their access to education and social protection.

We are aware that lack of access to education increases children’s protection risks, therefore we are gravely concerned that 84 million children are expected to be out of school by 2030 and that 300 million more will leave school without basic literacy skills. Furthermore, we share your concern about the staggeringly high number of child labourers, the 12 million girls who are married annually, and the over 100 million further underage girls expected to marry by 2030.

The EU shares your assessment that increased investment is key to alleviating some of these problems. We realize that the current trends are far from optimistic and in that context, the EU welcomes your latest report’s focus on ensuring the protection of children in one specific context, namely the context of travel and tourism. As you state in your report, the increased digitalization of travel can put children at higher risk from a highly diverse and unpredictable cohort of offenders. The international community must, therefore, address the travel and tourism sector’s misuse for human trafficking and modern forms of slavery, sexual and economic exploitation. The EU welcomes your commitment to contributing to this sector’s post-pandemic recovery in sustainable ways that encompass a wide array of child protection measures and expanded transparency mechanisms.

Preventing violence against children is a high priority for the EU and its member states. That is why, as mentioned in your report, the EU was the first regional organization to present a voluntary review in the context of tackling violence against children. We welcome, Madam Special Representative, your participation in the high-level meeting in June this year, focused on the EU’s support for the reconstruction and reform of the child protection system of Ukraine, the safe return of children, and family reunification.

Far from focusing only on our own region, however, the EU remains committed to preventing the causes of violence against children globally, which is why we will continue promoting and implementing measures to prevent all causes and forms of violence against children, working in close cooperation with you and the UN system as a whole, including the strengthening of the child protection system and child participation among others.

Doctor Maalla M’jid,

Based on your country missions and in-depth familiarity of VNRs, could you identify specific developed and developing countries that have made positive steps toward protecting children from violence in the context of tourism and travel? What are some of the different challenges that States face in the context of different levels of development? Perhaps your real-life examples could serve to guide others in adopting best practices.

Considering the need to prioritize resources, what are the three most important measures that you would recommend countries take to protect children in these contexts?

Thank you.