Description

UNICEF correspondent Amy Bennett reports on the findings and the call to action in 'Progress for Children: A Report Card on Child Protection'.

Transcript

Progress for Children Report of UNICEF Female: He hit me in the face and held my throat and then raped me. Male: I dropped out of school because I had no money and I joined my father to help and carry concrete paving blocks. Male: I joined the army when I was 15 years old. I don’t know if I can say that I went willingly. I was afraid to be taken by force. Amy Bennett: Around the world, far too many children are subject to violence, exploitation and abuse. UNICEF’s annual progress for children report goes a long way to supporting widespread change in the advocacy of the rights of children to be protected from harm. Progress for children is a slim booklet but inside it contains heavy hitting data on the most serious violations of children’s rights. The sheer scale of the problems children face is staggering but change cannot come about without the right tools. Susan Bissel: We need data for action. Of course for UNICEF, if we know that there’s one child affected by a violation, that’s enough to take action. But the fact is with data, not only can we do the kind of advocacy that we need to do, not only can we do the kind of costing exercises that we need to do but importantly we can be sure that what we do is the right thing so that our actions are based on evidence. Amy Bennett: Collecting the data means connecting the dots. To build the framework that includes lots to protect children, communities who no longer accept practices that are harmful to children and governments that are committed to protecting the most vulnerable citizens. The progress for children report concludes with a call to action. Susan Bissel: The north and south, east and west, we are all bound in this child protection agenda. There was no country untouched by child protection, concerns and violations. Amy Bennett: No one is immune from the need for progress and every child deserves the right to feel safe. This is Amy Bennett reporting for UNICEF Television, Unite for Children.