Goal 16 includes the target to ‘End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children’.
The World Health Organization reports that each year, 40 million children under the age of 15 are victims of child abuse. September’s UN General Assembly adoption of the post-2015 agenda with a strong inclusion of the welfare of children marked an important step on the road to making life better for boys and girls everywhere.

Opportunities for philanthropy
Foundations can play a leading role in achieving this target by promoting and supporting programmes to ensure the safety of boys and girls at home, at school, in their communities and in emergency situations. Philanthropic institutions can also support data collection to monitor progress and develop deeper understanding of the problem while building solutions.

‘The intersections between violence and other social issues make foundations the ideal partners for many violence prevention programmes.’

The intersections between violence and other social issues make foundations the ideal partners for many violence prevention programmes. By leveraging their connections to power across sectors, foundations can amplify the impact of their investments.

Investments in education might support programmes to reduce violence in schools or the home, for example.

Credit Stars Foundation.

WithoutViolence, a project of the Elevate Children Funder’s Group, provides support for Goal 16 by helping violence prevention leaders and practitioners communicate solutions and accelerate their impact for improving the lives of boys and girls.

Our donors are funding the development of a Business Case for Families, through which we hope to show businesses the economic benefits of improving life for the families of their employees.

‘Philanthropic support will be instrumental in ensuring that the SDG agenda stays on course through changes in governments and maintains focus when media and public attention shifts to new causes.’

Other evidence-based projects that philanthropists could promote under the SDG umbrella include:

• A parent-education programme in Turkey that led to a reduction of physical punishment by 73 per cent within two years.
• A parenting intervention in Liberia that led to a decrease in psychological violence by 29 per cent over a 15-month period.
• A home-visit programme in the US that helped to reduce child abuse and neglect by 48 per cent over 15 years.
• A school-based programme in Croatia that led to a reduction in violence in schools by 50 per cent over eight years.

The Elevate Children’s Funder Group also finances three other childhood violence prevention projects:

• Global Fund for Children promotes building country information systems as well as encouraging country ownership, and national and international cooperation.
• Know Violence in Childhood aims to expand knowledge of causes and cures, and governments.
• Children and Violence Evaluation Challenge Fund tests ways to assess interventions.

Philanthropic support will be instrumental in ensuring that the SDG agenda stays on course through changes in governments and maintains focus when media and public attention shifts to new causes.

Now that world leaders have adopted the SDG agenda, foundations need to identify where best to use their power.

Lisa Witter is executive director of WithoutViolence. Email lisa@withoutviolence.org
Fabio Venturini is communications and advocacy director of WithoutViolence. Email Fabio@withoutviolence.org