Aid agencies: Ending violence against children would save governments trillions
Additional investment in ending violence will mean a massive return on investment, according to a child-focused coalition.
6 July, 2022
The world’s governments are wasting trillions of US dollars on addressing the impact of violence against children, when they should instead be boosting their investment on preventing violence in the first place.
According to a new study by six major children’s humanitarian agencies, the economic cost of violence against children could be as high as 8% of global Gross Domestic Product[1] (GDP) equating to trillions of US dollars and 5% of GDP nationally.
The Violence-Prevention Dividend, launched today (Tuesday 6 July) by a consortium of child-focused agencies[2] argues there is a compelling economic case for increasing and improving investment in the prevention and response to violence against children.
“It is a crime that governments continue to spend trillions addressing the devastating fallout of violence against children,” explains coalition spokesperson and World Vision VP for Advocacy Dana Buzducea, “when investing in ending violence against children offers the potential to generate the biggest social and economic dividends.
“Investment in proven, evidence-based violence prevention programmes can avert the economic costs of violence as well as remove a critical barrier to children achieving their health, educational and economic development potential.
“Why spend all that money on mitigating the impact of violence, when you could spend much less to prevent it in the first place? Many proven violence prevention interventions have a relatively low cost. Preventing violence against children makes economic, as well as moral, sense.”
The study calls on all governments to integrate preventing and responding to violence against children into their economic growth and development strategies and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development plans.
ENDS
Read The Violence-Prevention Dividend study here
For an interview with Dana Buzducea contact Jan Butter on +44 (0)7889400889 or via jan_butter@wvi.org
Notes to Editors
- GDP is the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country over one year.
- The Office of the Special Representative on Violence against Children, UNICEF, World Vision International, ChildFund Alliance, Plan International and Save the Children International.