Convened by the governments of Colombia and Sweden in collaboration with UNICEF, WHO, and the SRSG-VAC, the First Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children and two preceding days of Satellite Events will put the issue of VAC prevention in all settings front and center, with new landmark political and financial commitments expected from governments from around the world.

This is the first time that all governments will convene to commit to preventing and ending all forms of VAC, including in and through schools. The Coalition for Good Schools and its allies and partners will be in Bogotá in full force to ensure that schools and education sectors are recognised for their potential to effectively meet the collective goals for prevention and response that this movement needs.

We know that we are at a special moment in history, following the momentum built by Wilton Park’s Addressing Violence in and through Education early in 2024, where major decisions are happening around how to prevent violence in and through schools. Global South voices and expertise must be centered in this discussion, and the Coalition is ensuring this is the case in Bogotá.

The Coalition for Good Schools is working with partners Safe to Learn, UNESCO, UNICEF and many others to ensure that all Ministerial Conference attendees and organisers appreciate the urgency and opportunity of preventing violence against children in and through schools. The movement is growing, and the time for action is NOW. 

The Coalition at the Conference

The Coalition will co-convene an official Satellite Event on 6th November at 14:00, called “Ending Violence is Education’s Business Too: Galvanizing Cross-Sectoral Partnerships to End Violence in and through Education“, with Safe to Learn, UNESCO and UNICEF. This high-level technical event will focus on addressing violence in and through education, with a key focus on a collaborative and cross-sectoral agenda and solutions to address violence in schools. This discussion will include not only Ministers from across sectors, but voices of Global South practitioners from various CSOs to ensure a comprehensive and holistic approach. 

Another Satellite Event will be co-hosted by members and allies of The Coalition in Africa including the Africa Child Policy Forum and APEVAC, focusing on “Africa’s Commitment to Keeping Her Children Safe.” Our Latin America Hub through Aulas en Paz is also planning a separate side event, and its members will be speaking to their findings from their new country reports on violence in schools throughout the conference.

An official Side Event will be hosted by Safe to Learn, UNESCO and UNICEF with support from the Coalition for Good Schools on 7 November. In this high-level political event, Safe to Learn and Coalition for Good Schools members will share stories of success with Ministries of Education to enhance commitments and pledges to sign up for or strengthen the Safe to Learn Call to Action.

A third and Parallel Session alongside the main conference programme on 8th November at 12:30, “Safe & Enabling School Environments“, will bring together Ministers, multilateral partners, Global South practitioners and youth survivors to explore the evidence and ‘what works’ to end violence in schools. 

The Coalition and its partners and allies are also looking forward to High Level Panel 6 on pledges and commitments made during these events for safe school environments. A separate event hosted by INSPIRE where the Ministry of Education & Sports from Uganda alongside Africa Hub Coordinators Raising Voices will be speaking to the journey they have taken to address VAC in schools from policy to the school and community level. 

Education systems hold significant potential in both preventing and responding to VAC. They provide a platform for challenging harmful social and gender norms and behaviors that drive violence, offer safe spaces to enhance learning outcomes, and are instrumental in shaping future societies based on equality and peace.

– from the joint organisers of the Parallel Event “Ending Violence is Education’s Business Too.” 

Our Regional Hubs at the Conference

Our Latin America Hub coordinators Aulas en Paz and others have been laying major preparations not only for delegations at the Ministerial Conference, but for a parallel conference with UNESCO that aims to develop a regional programme for cooperation between Latin American countries on violence against children, with follow-up engagements to be held after the Ministerial Conference. José Fernando Mejía and Lina María Saldarriaga of Aulas en Paz will be speaking into events focused on their efforts to address school violence in Colombia and their work with Safe Online. Following their recent Colombia country report, you can read the newest reports from Argentina developed with Colectivo and Chicos.net, as well as Chile and Perú. Reports are available on the Sin miedo en la escuela website.

Our Africa Hub will be launching and disseminating two upcoming pieces, including a regionally focused follow-up to 2021’s landmark evidence review, entitled “Preventing violence against children in and through schools in sub-Saharan Africa” led by University of Cape Town’s Shanaaz Mathews, as well as the Hub’s new policy mapping report, “Africa’s Commitment to Safer Education: The Policy Landscape for Preventing Violence Against Children in Schools” led by the Africa Hub’s Stella Ayo-Odongo. Hub members Raising Voices, AfriChild, HakiElimu, FAWE Africa and others will also be part of their countries’ delegations and speaking into events including those hosted by INSPIRE. 

Our Asia Hub will be represented by Bernadette Madrid, who will speak to gains made on VAC prevention in and through schools in the Philippines through the Safe Schools for Teens curriculum and its integration into policy. Hub members This Life Cambodia and CWIN-Nepal, who will be speaking to their forthcoming revised regional scoping report, “Creating Good Schools, Preventing Violence Against Children in Schools in South Asia and the Pacific.”

Will you be at the Ministerial Conference in Bogotá? Do you have a side or parallel event you want to highlight?

We want to hear from you! Please reach out to us at info@coalitionforgoodschools.org to get updates on Coalition organised spaces and how you can get involved.  

Our Partners and Affiliates at the Conference

Partners and affiliates have several engagements planned related to our collective effort to prevent violence in and through schools. Friends and partners at the Brave Movement, Together for Girls and the CSO Forum are working hard to ensure that children’s voices and active participation, as well as the vital voices of practitioners – particularly those from the Global South – are centered throughout discussions in and around the conference.

Stay tuned as we keep this page updated with more information closer to the conference. 

Aims to re-imagine a new, upgraded partnership within the context of “Pathfinders 2.0.” CSOs will highlight their unique value by bringing a coordinated voice and powerful mechanisms to connect local and global levels, offering strategies that bridge the divide between local and global efforts. This session will serve as a celebration of successful practices, encouraging governments to leverage effective methods developed by CSOs and scale them in culturally sensitive ways to significantly contribute to ending violence against children.

Another side event co-hosted by UNICEF Innocenti Center, the Prevention Collaborative and other allies will feature inputs from Africa Hub members and will examine intersections of violence against children and violence against women prevention, with some focus on the role schools can play. Shanaaz Mathews will present findings from the Coalition’s 2021 global evidence review on preventing violence in schools as well as the sub-Saharan Africa regional report to be launched at the conference. Full details to come, stay tuned! 

You can see the full list of Satellite Events here. 

You can see the full conference programme here.