Child Protection
UNICEF aims to keep children safe from exploitation and abuse, giving children the greatest gift we can – a childhood.
For decades, we have been responding to child-protection issues all around the world.
In Paraguay, we combat child labour by supporting educational and recreation centres for children who would otherwise be working on the streets. In Sierra Leone, we helped more than 3,600 child soldiers leave army life. In Burkina Faso, our support helped secure passage of legislation that made female genital mutilation and cutting a punishable offense. In Asia, we facilitated a cross-border agreement between China and Viet Nam to end child trafficking.
Violence and abuse can kill – more often they result in poor physical and mental health, deny a child education, or lead to homelessness, vagrancy, or a sense of hopelessness. Moreover, if and when abused children have children of their own, they are more likely to subject them to some form of abuse.
Protection from these dangers is a universal right of every child, as laid out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC). UNICEF places a high priority on developing a protective environment to protect every child from any form of violence and abuse. A protective environment is about living in safety and dignity.
Children will never be free from exploitation until all levels of society - from the family to the international community - work together.
That is why UNICEF and its partners work with all involved parties including advocacy aimed at government, community education programmes, advocacy and training within the community and educational programmes for children to help them developing life-saving skills.
Read more about child protection in our information sheet.
To learn more about protective environments and what you can do, watch The Protective Environment.
For decades, we have been responding to child-protection issues all around the world.
In Paraguay, we combat child labour by supporting educational and recreation centres for children who would otherwise be working on the streets. In Sierra Leone, we helped more than 3,600 child soldiers leave army life. In Burkina Faso, our support helped secure passage of legislation that made female genital mutilation and cutting a punishable offense. In Asia, we facilitated a cross-border agreement between China and Viet Nam to end child trafficking.
The issue
Each year hundreds of millions of children across the globe are victims of exploitation, abuse and violence.- Approximately 158 million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour.
- Around 51 million births go unregistered every year in developing countries.
- An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year.
- Approximately 143 million children are orphaned by one or both parents.
- An estimated 70 million women and girls alive today have been subjected to some form of genital mutilation/cutting.
- 2 million children are believed to be exploited through prostitution and pornography.
- 40 million children below the age of 15 suffer from abuse or neglect and require health and social care.
Violence and abuse can kill – more often they result in poor physical and mental health, deny a child education, or lead to homelessness, vagrancy, or a sense of hopelessness. Moreover, if and when abused children have children of their own, they are more likely to subject them to some form of abuse.
UNICEF's impact
Protection from these dangers is a universal right of every child, as laid out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC). UNICEF places a high priority on developing a protective environment to protect every child from any form of violence and abuse. A protective environment is about living in safety and dignity. Children will never be free from exploitation until all levels of society - from the family to the international community - work together.
That is why UNICEF and its partners work with all involved parties including advocacy aimed at government, community education programmes, advocacy and training within the community and educational programmes for children to help them developing life-saving skills.
Read more about child protection in our information sheet.
To learn more about protective environments and what you can do, watch The Protective Environment.
Join with us to protect children from violence and abuse.
