A generation to protect
Monitoring violence, exploitation and abuse of children within the SDG framework
Every child has the right to be protected from violence, exploitation and harmful practices. This right is a critical component of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs), marking the first time that the protection of children from these violations has formally been included in a global monitoring framework with time-bound targets.
The SDGs represent an opportunity to help protect the world’s children from violence and exploitation, which could also be pivotal to achieving progress across many different targets within the development framework. For instance, the eradication of child marriage could be instrumental in reducing levels of child mortality. Studies have consistently shown that the younger a girl marries, the more likely she is to have a child at a young age, and infants born to adolescent mothers have a greater mortality rate.
Solid data are needed to shift the invisibility of child protection violations, to capture the true scale and extent, and to identify risk and protective factors. Reliable data are also needed to inform the development and implementation of national policies, legislation and actions for prevention and response, and also ensure a robust monitoring process to assess results. Data enable stakeholders to appropriately identify and address challenges.
This publication summarizes the development and implementation of the SDG global indicator framework and describes how child protection fits within it. Detailed information on each protection-related global SDG indicator under goals 5, 8 and 16 is provided, along with guidance on the collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting on these indicators at national and global levels. Key challenges and strategies for improved monitoring and measurement of child protection are also discussed.
