A/HRC/34/27
20.
The integrated and holistic nature of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets
thus reflects the indivisible, mutually reinforcing nature of the rights of the child and all
human rights. Poverty is multidimensional and often intergenerational, and when rights are
denied in one area (such as access to services), they are frequently also denied or violated in
other respects, including for example, in exposure to violence and abuse, trafficking or
child labour.
21.
A human rights-based implementation of the 2030 Agenda therefore requires a
wide-ranging approach in which States ensure (a) the realization of economic, social and
cultural rights, including access to quality services; (b) civil and political rights, including
protection from all forms of violence; and (c) the implementation of key economic and
environmental goals that reinforce progress in achieving more sustainable and equitable
development for all children, regardless of where they live. Implementing the 2030 Agenda
in accordance with its unequivocal cross-cutting commitments to the human rights
principles of equality and non-discrimination will also be central to the fulfilment of the
aim to ensure that no one is left behind. The following thematic analysis addresses a nonexhaustive set of goals and targets relevant for the realization of children’s rights and is
intended to provide illustrative examples of how the application of a child rights-based
approach is relevant for the implementation of all goals and targets.
Ending violence, exploitation and abuse of children
22.
In the past year up to 1 billion children have experienced physical, sexual or
psychological violence. One in four children suffers physical abuse and nearly one in five
girls is sexually abused at least once in their lives. 8 Violence is often a core dimension of
inequality and protection against violence is both central to ensuring greater equality
overall and as a foundation to support children’s access to services. For example, violence,
exploitation and abuse affect children’s physical and mental health in both the short and
long term, compromising their ability to achieve a good level of education.
23.
Violence against children can be perpetrated in both the public and private spheres
and takes many different forms including, inter alia, armed violence, trafficking, sexual
abuse and exploitation, gender-based violence, bullying, female genital mutilation or
cutting, child marriage, violent child discipline practices and other harmful practices. In
certain circumstances children are more vulnerable to violence, including those in detention
or living in institutions, children with disabilities, children living or working on the streets,
those in situations of conflict or displacement and children who are internally displaced,
refugees, or migrants, in particular those who are unaccompanied.
24.
The fulfilment of all the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 16, addressing
protection from violence and other fundamental freedoms, must be a priority for all
countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, alongside related targets under Goal 5
on gender equality. States should implement the 2030 Agenda commitments in these
respects in accordance with general comment No. 13 (2011) of the Committee on the
Rights of the Child on the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence, as well
as the related general comments.9 At national level there is a need for both preventive and
8
9
See Susan Hillis and others, “Global prevalence of past-year violence against children: a systematic
review and minimum estimates”, Pediatrics, vol. 137, No. 3 (March 2016) and UNICEF, Hidden in
Plain Sight: a Statistical Analysis of Violence against Children (New York, 2014).
See, inter alia, Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comments No. 8 (2006) on the right of
the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment
and No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice; and joint general recommendation No. 31
of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of
the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2014) on harmful practices.
7
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