2024 witnessed serious and ongoing challenges for children – and yet significant progress in ending corporal punishment and other forms violence against children was made. Whether you work at a community level supporting families, on agreeing international treaties, or anywhere in between - we want to say thank you for your commitment and effort. Together, our work makes a difference!

2024 highlights and progress

• Global progress in prohibiting corporal punishment of children

In April we were delighted to announce the prohibition of all corporal punishment of children in Laos, followed by Tajikistan in June! Both countries are also putting in place comprehensive measures to communicate the law and support behaviour change. Their combined child populations of 7 million brings the total number of children worldwide protected by law from corporal punishment to approximately 329 million.

Barbados enacted its Child Protection Act, 2024 and Child Justice Act, 2024. The Acts prohibit corporal punishment respectively in childcare centres, in penal institutions and as a sentence for crime (i.e. flogging). We are seeking further information about when the Acts will come into force. In the state of Illinois in the United States, the ban on corporal punishment has been extended to private and non-public schools.

And as we write this, we understand that legislative processes to prohibit all corporal punishment are underway in Armenia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Taiwan and Thailand. We look forward to bringing you news of more progress to end corporal punishment in 2025!

• States commit to prohibiting and eliminating corporal punishment during the Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children

Five more states - Burundi, the Czech Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, and Uganda – pledged to prohibit all corporal punishment of children during the conference. Gambia and Nigeria also pledged to ban corporal punishment in schools, and 24 states pledged to take other measures to end violent punishment of children. This brings to 27 the total number of countries officially committed to enacting prohibition of all corporal punishment of children.

Kenya, Benin, Nigeria and Uganda also announced their intention to pursue a new World Health Assembly Resolution on ending corporal punishment.

Read more about progress and pledges made at the Ministerial Conference here.

• Partnerships, publications and events

In the first months of the year we contributed to two new publications:

• Eliminating Violence Against Children: Promoting the Adoption of Effective Measures for Ending Violence Against Children Through Human Rights Engagement published by the Child Rights Connect Working Group on Children and Violence.
• Equal protection from assault in England and Northern Ireland: Prohibiting physical punishment of all children published by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Laos recently became the first State in the ASEAN region to prohibit all corporal punishment! Our briefing summarising progress towards ending corporal punishment in the ASEAN region can be found here. 

In April we partnered with UNICEF, Save the Children and WHO to discuss 'What Works to End Corporal Punishment?'. The webinar explored effective norms and behaviour change strategies. You can watch the recording here.

In May we partnered with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to hold a side event to The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, called 'Ending the cycle of violence: Prohibiting and eliminating corporal punishment of children in the juvenile justice system'. We published our new report to highlight the States where corporal punishment of children in justice settings continues to be supported in law: Ending corporal punishment in the child justice system: legal and human rights approaches

In August we submitted a report on the progress and delay in achieving prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment of children in Council of Europe member States to the Council of Europe Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF).

Also in August we attended the ISPCAN Global Congress in Uppsala, Sweden, presenting a session on 'Combining law reform with norms and behaviour change strategies to end corporal punishment of children'. You can watch a recording of this presentation here. 

In September we made a presentation on global progress to end corporal punishment at the Lives in the Balance 2024 Children’s Mental Health Advocacy Conference.

In October we co-hosted a webinar on 'Effective Campaigns to End Corporal Punishment' with the Council of Baltic Sea States Child Rights Unit that included a wide range of international speakers discussing their campaigns. You can watch the recording here.

In December we took part in a consultation with the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education on the topic of 'Safety as an essential element of the right to education and a precondition for its full realization'.

• Human rights recommendations to end violent punishment of children

During 2024 we submitted 36 briefings to human rights treaty bodies and mechanisms including the CRC, CAT and the UPR. 46 recommendations to prohibit and eliminate corporal punishment were made, and Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Guatemala, Jordan, Mali, Monaco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tuvalu, UAE, Uzbekistan and VietNam all accepted recommendations to prohibit corporal punishment. Find out more in our news blogs summarising human rights recommendations.

• 2024 blog series: A critical year to #EndCorporalPunishment

We published seven blogs from guest authors in 2024. They covered new research, ending corporal punishment in sport and child justice settings, the public health imperative of ending violent punishment, and a former Irish Senator’s account of how corporal punishment was banned in Ireland.

Got something to say? Write a blog for us in 2025!

• Campaigning

There have been many incredible campaigns to end corporal punishment in 2024! In April partners across the world got involved in the International Day to End Corporal Punishment, reaching millions of people with the message that violent punishment of children can and must end. What will you do to end the most common form of violence against children next year?

Coming in 2025

Global progress to end corporal punishment of children will continue in 2025:

• Early in the year the World Health Organization will publish a new report on the public health implications of corporal punishment of children.
• Work will continue apace among the States proposing a new World Health Assembly Resolution on corporal Punishment (get in touch if your government would like to join this initiative).
• Watch this space for news of a government-hosted high level international meeting on ending corporal punishment in 2025.
• International Day to #EndCorporalPunishment will be on 30 April – start making your plans!