A Note On This Page

Most of the work featured here was conducted as part of CIRGH’s now-concluded partnership with the USAID Health Evaluation and Applied Research Development (HEARD) Project. This page synthesizes that body of work and signposts to the organizations continuing this important work. Ending violence against children remains a priority area for CIRGH, and we are committed to continuing our engagement in this field in the years ahead.

Overview

Global estimates indicate that as many as 1 billion children aged 2–17 years have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence, or neglect, in the past year. Violence experienced during childhood has lifelong implications for physical and mental health.

CUNY CIRGH participated in a number of leading, data-driven initiatives within violence prevention and child safeguarding to address children in adversity. This work included:

  • Data-Informed Strategies to End Violence Against Children — providing direct support to country efforts to act on Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) data through a landscape analysis across 20 countries, tailored country support in Colombia, Kenya, Namibia, Moldova, and Honduras, and dissemination of learning through key global partnerships.
  • Child Safeguarding — reviewing and supporting policy and capacity strengthening in child safeguarding in collaboration with Keeping Children Safe
  • MHPSS Child Protection Learning Collaborative — supporting the Child Protection subgroup and hosting a series of capacity-building meetings on ending violence against children
  • The First Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children — supporting USAID engagement and participating in satellite sessions at the inaugural conference in Bogotá, Colombia, including the INSPIRE Working Group session on seven evidence-based strategies for ending violence against children
  • To Zero: Co-Creating a Path to Ending Childhood Sexual Violence — serving as members of the To Zero Initiative Implementation Team, contributing a review of the evidence to end childhood sexual violence, and leading youth engagement activities including key informant interviews and a convening of youth leaders in South Africa.

Data to Action: Data Informed Strategies to End Violence Against Children

Through the USAID Health Evaluation and Applied Research Development (HEARD) Project, CIRGH provided direct support to country efforts to act on Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) data through strengthened policy and program efforts, with a focus on connecting learning across country experiences. CIRGH’s efforts represented the first systematic examination of successes and challenges across different countries, spanning landscape analysis, country support, and dissemination and learning.

The Violence Against Children Surveys (VACS) are nationally representative household surveys of 13–24 year olds that generated data on the prevalence and incidence of physical, sexual, and emotional violence among children, adolescents, and young people, as well as on risk and protective factors, consequences of violence, and access to services. VACS were important because they provided invaluable data to strengthen public health interventions, modeled unprecedented collaboration among the U.S. Government, UN organizations, and partners like Together for Girls, and offered key lessons on translating survey results into funded national action plans. 

They are important because they:

  • provide invaluable information on the prevalence of violence against children and, by doing so, contribute to stronger public health and related interventions (e.g., more targeted HIV/AIDS interventions, safer schools, etc);
  • represent an unprecedented level of collaboration among the U.S. Government and other implementing partners, such as UN organizations and Together for Girls, providing a model that is relevant for other important areas, such as care reform and other child protection issues; and
  • offer important lessons on what works best to facilitate the creation and implementation of national action plans, given their richness, complexity, multisectoral nature and broad range of partners.

CIRGH conducted the first comprehensive review of progress across all VACS countries, documenting stakeholder engagement, data-to-action workshops, national plan development, and coordination mechanisms. The analysis drew on secondary literature and was enriched by a stakeholder survey and key informant interviews, synthesizing the views of 225 stakeholders across 20 countries.

Selected through a global call for proposals, Colombia, Kenya, and Namibia received tailored technical and financial assistance to overcome specific obstacles along the data-to-action continuum, including facilitating multi-sector coordination, funding programmatic gaps, and piloting innovative programming. Moldova and Honduras received additional country support.

Results and learning were shared through the Together for Girls Leadership Council, the INSPIRE Working Group, and the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, as well as at regional intergovernmental health organizations and implementation science conferences.

VACS Summary Report

The Power of Data to Action

Country experiences and lessons following Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS)

This report and its companion summary provide the first comprehensive review of country experiences in transforming VACS results into concrete sex- and age-specific improvements for children and young people. Referred to as post-VACS efforts, these include actions taken to understand, implement and integrate VACS results into policies and/or programs aimed at preventing or ending violence against children. The analysis synthesizes the views of 225 stakeholders across 20 countries.

Child Safeguarding

CIRGH collaborated with Keeping Children Safe (KCS) to review and support policy and capacity strengthening in child safeguarding. This work involved close engagement with now-concluded USAID Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) initiatives, and with the USG Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity (APPCA) Interagency Working Group. Key activities included a preliminary risk assessment of USAID’s child safeguarding policies and practices, a Child Safeguarding 101 training, capacity-building support, and focused country-level engagement in Cambodia and Rwanda.

Working with Keeping Children Safe, CIRGH supported efforts to strengthen USAID’s and its partners’ policies, procedures, and practices related to child safeguarding — including reporting procedures, investigation quality, and assessments of new partners’ safeguarding policies.

A preliminary risk assessment identified the main child safeguarding risks for USAID, including safeguarding risks from partners, the absence of child-friendly reporting and response procedures, and staff unawareness of existing USAID protocols. The assessment also identified areas for enhancement, including embedding safeguarding risk assessment across the Agency, developing child victim/survivor-centered reporting procedures, strengthening recruitment requirements, addressing safeguarding in digital and communications activities, and developing a holistic safeguarding strategy in coordination with USAID’s PSEA and C-TIP initiatives.

KCS also provided focused support to Missions and implementing partners in Cambodia and Rwanda, including facilitating initial country conversations and developing and approving a Scope of Work for the Cambodia Mission.

MHPSS & Child Protection Learning Collaborative

As part of the ISC MHPSS Learning Collaborative, CIRGH supported the development of a Child Protection subgroup, hosting a series of capacity-building meetings focused on key topics in ending violence against children, as well as supporting USAID engagement at the First Ministerial Conference to End Violence Against Children.

The subgroup meetings focused specifically on the Ending Violence Against Children (EVAC) agenda, with a particular emphasis on data-to-action efforts in Colombia and Honduras.

  • Meeting #28 — October 22, 2024 Ending Violence Against Children: Data to Action Efforts in Colombia and Honduras Meeting Report | Spanish Report
  • Meeting #26 — September 10, 2024 Ending Violence Against Children: Data to Action Efforts in Colombia and Honduras Meeting Report | Spanish Report
  • Meeting #25 — August 13, 2024 Ending Violence Against Children: Data to Action Efforts in Colombia and Honduras Meeting Report | Spanish Report
  • Meeting #23 — May 29, 2024 Ending Violence Against Children: Data to Action Efforts in Colombia and Honduras Meeting Report | Spanish Report
  • Meeting #19 — March 27, 2023 Child Protection and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Meeting Report

To learn more about the full MHPSS Learning Collaborative and access all meeting reports, visit the MHPSS Knowledge Hub.

First Global Ministerial Conference to Ending Violence Against Children

The inaugural Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children took place on November 7–8, 2024 in Bogotá, Colombia, securing new political and financial commitments from over 120 national governments and organizations to prevent and end violence against children. Several CUNY SPH and CIRGH affiliated staff and students attended, representing initiatives closely connected to CIRGH’s violence prevention work.

The conference was jointly hosted by the Governments of Colombia and Sweden in partnership with WHO, UNICEF, and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Ending Violence Against Children, bringing together world leaders, ministry delegations, civil society representatives, advocates, youth, and organizations from around the globe.

CUNY SPH representatives included staff from the USAID HEARD project, who supported the INSPIRE Working Group satellite session “Inspired by INSPIRE: 10 Years of Building Evidence and Best Practices,” as well as representatives from the To Zero Initiative and the Safe Futures Hub, both of which hosted sessions presenting new landmark reports on ending childhood sexual violence. To learn more about the INSPIRE Seven Strategies for Ending Violence Against Children, visit the WHO INSPIRE resource page.

Keep an eye out for information on the upcoming Second Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children here.

To Zero: Co-Creating a Path to Ending Childhood Sexual Violence

Faculty and staff of CIRGH served as members of the Implementation Team for the To Zero Initiative, a strategic visioning process to develop a global vision to end childhood sexual violence (CSV). CIRGH contributed research and youth engagement activities across two workstreams.

CIRGH produced Getting to Zero: A Review of the Evidence to End Childhood Sexual Violence, a summary paper on the current state of the field and key remaining areas of work for the sector. This included an analysis of organizational strategies from 39 actors in the sector to assess alignment with the INSPIRE framework, and key informant interviews with 34 leaders working to end childhood sexual violence.

CIRGH spearheaded activities to elevate youth voice in efforts to end CSV. This included key informant interviews with 15 leaders from youth-led organizations working to end sexual violence experienced by children and adolescents. A fieldwork team of four CUNY MPH students supported this research and provided recommendations to the To Zero Implementation Team on ways to further elicit the youth voice. CIRGH also coordinated a convening of five youth leaders in South Africa to reflect on what is not working in the field, innovations and game changers, and sources of hope for a future free of CSV.

A Vision To Zero: A Roadmap to Ending Childhood Sexual Violence

Resources

The Together for Girls Resource Bank is the central hub for VACS-related resources, including the full library of VACS Study Reports. Key resources particularly relevant to CIRGH’s work include VACS Data-to-Action Toolkit, Technical Action Framework and Linking VACS to Coordinated and Effective Action.

MHPSS Collaborative — A learning collaborative supporting mental health and psychosocial support programming in humanitarian and development contexts, including a dedicated Child Protection subgroup focused on ending violence against children.

INSPIRE: Seven Strategies to Ending Violence Against Children — A WHO-led framework offering seven evidence-based strategies to prevent and respond to violence against children, with practical implementation resources, country examples, and program guidance.

Safe Futures Hub — A joint initiative of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), Together for Girls, and WeProtect Global Alliance focused specifically on ending childhood sexual violence. The Hub offers an evidence review, a practice-based knowledge framework, and a growing library of tools and resources.

CPC Learning Network — A network powered by research that sparks critical conversations to challenge how we support children, youth, and families. Housed at Columbia University, the network supports leadership in the Global South and maintains an extensive resource hub with publications, tools, and recommendations on child well-being.

Keeping Children Safe – A global membership organisation setting the standard for child safeguarding in international development, providing policy guidance, training, and technical support to help organisations strengthen their safeguarding practices and protect children from harm.

To Zero Initiative — A global strategic visioning process co-creating a roadmap to end childhood sexual violence, bringing together evidence, sector leadership, and youth voice to define a shared vision and priority actions for the field.

Project Partners

CIRGH partnered with organizations at both the global and country levels to better understand government-led efforts to improve policies and programs based on Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) results and child safeguarding.