Government

Pledge

Austria

In 1989, as the fourth country in Europe (after Sweden, Finland and Norway), Austria prohibited corporal punishment of children in the Austrian Civil Code. Since 2011, the right of every child to grow up free from violence is also explicitly enshrined in Article 5 of the Constitutional Act on the Rights of Children, which forms part of Austria’s Constitution. Article 5 specifically prohibits physical punishment, the infliction of emotional suffering, sexual abuse and other forms of maltreatment, and stipulates the right of every child to be protected from economic and sexual exploitation.

Austria has been regularly monitoring the prevalence of violence against children and the attitude of parents and the overall population towards corporal punishment of children. The study on corporal punishment was first conducted in 1977 and has since been repeated by the Austrian government in 2014, 2019, 2021 and 2023. We commit to continue this data collection as a crucial step in order to design the most relevant and effective measures to prevent violence against children.

Benin

According to national statistics from the MICS (Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys) 2021-2022, nine out of ten children aged 1-14 (88%) have been subjected to some form of violent discipline.

introduce modules on positive discipline, non-violent education and gender equality into the initial and in-service training curricula for social workers and teachers of all kinds;

Botswana

Government commits to ensuring access to enabling and safe, physical, social and online environments for children and young people by:

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• integrating positive discipline and anti-bullying curricula into teacher training programmes;

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initiate/ strengthen community engagements and intergenerational dialogue where children, parents/ caregivers and community discuss issues of violence, discipline, and healthy relationships, positive parenting, child parent responsibilities, norms and practices.

Expected Impact:

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•             positive conflict resolution in families and communities to reduce violent practices, contributing to safer homes for children;

•             increased public awareness of the harms of corporal punishment and the benefits of positive parenting; and

•             paradigm shift social norms that perpetuate VAC and promoting a culture of respect, non-violence, and care. 

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empowered caregivers with alternative non-violent discipline strategies;

Burundi

The government of Burundi commits to review and strengthen its laws and policies to prevent violence against children by:

•             Prohibiting all forms of corporal punishment in all settings by the end of 2028

Cambodia

Strengthening and expand… Positive Parenting, Positive Discipline in School…to ensure that children are protected and live in safe environment.

Cabo Verde

Strengthen measures to eliminate the practice of physical/corporal punishment by 2028

Central African Republic

The Central African government is committed to creating a safe school and learning environment and promoting positive discipline to prevent violence against children:

– Adopt the decree on the code of conduct for staff in public and public schools – by 2025

Czechia

The Czech government approved the amendment of the Civil Code to declare corporal punishment unacceptable in child rearing in spring 2024 and will strive for an approval of the same by the Czech parliament by June 2025.

Dominican Republic

The implementation of this [positive parenting] program seeks to provide families with a space to reflect and generate new learning about parenting practices and positive discipline, based on love, respect and peace, to develop responsible motherhood and fatherhood. The program is multisectoral in nature, it is implemented in line with the national cultural reality and with the participation of families, institutions and civil society. 

Eswatini

The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini commits to:

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·       Conduct training of 800 teachers on the Schools Discipline Guidelines, that promote positive discipline by 2027.

Gambia

The Government commits to develop a comprehensive safe school programme, implement, monitor and document learning for scalability. Repeal Sec. 15 of the Education Regulations of Education Act Cap. 46 Law of The Gambia which permits corporal punishment in schools by December 2026 to ensure that children in all educational settings are safe to learn and develop.

Impact: Children protected from corporal punishment and learning takes place in a conducive environment. 

The Government commits to ensuring that all children are safe at home, communities, care institutions, including alternative care centres, through:

•             The provision of parenting and positive discipline programs in 200 communities and 100 Quranic Memorisation Centres and Majalis…

Guinea

The government of the Republic is committed to integrating positive discipline and programs to combat corporal punishment and harassment into initial and in-service training by 2027 (cf. Children’s Code Act: Articles: 767 to 772). 3,600 teachers (pre-school, primary, secondary) will have their skills reinforced and regularly practice non-violent positive discipline and non-harassment, in all regions of the country, so as to protect 108,000 children, including 59,400 girls and 1,080 children with disabilities.

Guinea-Bissau

The State of Guinea-Bissau pledges to strengthen mechanisms for preventing and responding to violence against children, especially by implementing a nationwide parental education program.

This initiative will target 40% of families in regions with high prevalence rates Quinara, Biombo, and Oio regions by December 2030, with a focus on preventing mainly physical discipline. Progress will be tracked using specific indicators, including the percentage of families reached, the reduction in reported cases of physical discipline, reached families.

Jamaica

The Government of Jamaica commits to expanding school-based violence prevention programmes to 75% of all public schools and institutions by 2030.

…programmes to address burgeoning issues of bullying, peer-to-peer violence and violent discipline in schools.

Kenya

The Government of Kenya pledges:

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II. Promote positive discipline as a national standard by designing and implementing evidence-based school safety programs and training at least 100,000 teachers at basic education level to adopt supportive and nonviolent disciplinary approaches by 2030.

Kyrgyzstan

The government of Kyrgyzstan commits to review, and strengthen laws to prevent violence against children by;

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•             Amend the Children’s Сode 2012 to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings by 2030.

The government of Kyrgyzstan commits to create safe learning environments by promoting positive discipline and integrating new programs in all schools to prevent VAC by 2030.

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•             Development and roll out of parenting programs in schools as part of classroom hours and parent-teacher meetings to address corporal punishment.

Namibia

Namibia commits to ensuring that schools provide a safe and enabling environments for all children by implementing the National Safe Schools Framework across all schools. This includes… the implementation of targeted programmes and interventions reducing, minimizing and removing obstacles to school safety, including for example positive discipline training for teachers

Expected deadline within which pledge will be realized: 2030

Nigeria

The Government of Nigeria commits to strengthen laws and policies to prevent and respond to violence against children by:

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·       Undertaking the review and enforcement of the Child Rights Act 2003 and Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 201, to enforce appropriate penalties for violations and a ban on corporal punishment in schools by 2028.

·       The Government of Nigeria commits to integrating positive discipline and anti-bullying curricula into all teachers’ pre-service and in-service training by 2030.

Pakistan

The Government of Pakistan pledges to ensure that every child is protected from all forms of violence in all contexts by 2027.

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The pledge emphasizes the strengthening and enforcement of child protection laws, including those against corporal punishment, child marriage, online sexual exploitation and abuse.

Government of Pakistan pledges to support parents and caregivers to practice positive, non-violent discipline through implementing nationwide parenting interventions with an explicit focus on addressing the social and gender norms that underpin violence. Approximately 28 million parents and caregivers will be supported with guidance on positive parenting techniques.

As parents and caregivers adopt non-violent discipline methods, children will experience better emotional and cognitive development, reducing their exposure to violence. Moreover, addressing the underlying social and gender norms that perpetuate violence will contribute to a cultural shift toward more equitable and non-violent family practices, ultimately helping to break the cycle of violence for future generations.

Senegal

The Government of Senegal undertakes to develop and implement an integrated national parent education programme through various channels, including the media, community exchanges and public services (educational, university and health facilities, etc.).

Impact: Families use positive discipline methods

South Africa

As government of South Africa we commit to implement parenting programmes, which are evidence based in 52 Districts by 2027, building the  capacity of parents to ensure that the home environment is safe for children, reducing incidences of child abuse, corporal punishment by parents and caregivers, reducing the levels of violence against children.

2.3 Implement Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) to improve safety in the learning environment, by reinforcing the ban on corporal punishment in schools and introducing stronger penalties for those who administer corporal punishment by 2027.

Sri Lanka

The Government of Sri Lanka commits to completing the legislative process to ban corporal punishment in all settings by mid-2025. Following this, an implementation plan, inclusive of costed actions for each responsible stakeholder, will be developed by the end of 2025.

Impact: This pledge will ensure that children across all settings are protected from corporal punishment, enabling them to access supportive services and justice when needed. Parents, caregivers, teachers, and all adults involved in child upbringing will be educated on the unacceptability of corporal punishment. Through complementary government initiatives, these stakeholders will be supported to adopt effective and positive parenting methods

The Ministry of Education will strengthen the capacity of the education system at national and provincial level to reduce violence in and around schools. It pledges to:

 a) Revise the 2016 Circular banning corporal publishment in schools in order to update guidance to better address strategies for eliminating corporal punishment and different types of violence in school, in alignment with the Government of Sri Lanka’s ongoing legislative process to ban corporal punishment of children in all settings by mid-2025, and

 b) Piloting and scaling nationwide capacity development for teachers on “positive discipline techniques” and 21 skills to prevent and respond to violence in schools, building on lessons learned from existing initiatives.

Impact:

a) Children will learn better in safer, more positive school environments free from corporal punishment and other types violence, which inhibit learning and achievement, as well as healthy physical and psychological development.

b) Education authorities, schools, teachers and parents will have clearer guidelines on how to eliminate corporal punishment. Schools will be empowered to take a whole school approach to create enabling learning environments free of violence.

c) Teachers will have better skills to prevent, mitigate and respond to violence and to implement positive discipline techniques. School communities, including parents, will have better awareness on the importance of eliminating corporal punishment and other types of violence in schools and the consequences and referral pathways will be more clearly delineated.

Tajikistan

• Underscoring the utmost importance of these endeavors, the Republic of Tajikistan has made significant amendments to its legislation in 2024, firmly prohibiting all forms of violence against children, including corporal punishment, and this process continues to progress.

The Commission under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan on the Rights of the Child is fully committed to ending all forms of violence against children, including corporal punishment in all settings, and to this end:

Timor Leste

Strengthen integration of the Child Protection principle into the education policies and programmes/ curriculum to promote safety and to prevent child abuse in all learning process by making Positive Discipline training a mandatory for teachers’ pre- and in-service training by 2026

Trinidad and Tobago

The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, through the Office of the Prime Minister–Gender and Child Affairs and the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, pledges to collaborate with the Ministry of Education and the Division of Education, Research, and Technology to integrate anti-bullying programs and positive discipline strategies in all schools by 2025.

Uganda

The government of Uganda commits to review, and strengthen laws to prevent violence against children by;

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• Amend the Children’s Act 2016 to ban corporal punishment in all settings by 2030.

The government of Uganda commits to create safe learning environments by integrating a whole school approach and promoting positive discipline to prevent violence against children. Specifically:

•             Rollout the Alternatives to Corporal Punishment guide to all schools in Uganda by 2025.

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•             Roll out the Good School Toolkit nationally by 2030.