16. Peace, justice and strong institutions.

Presentation of SDG 16

What is Goal 16 about?

People should no longer live their lives in fear of violence, and should feel safe in their daily lives, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.

The number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018, the highest level recorded by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in almost 70 years. In 2019, the United Nations tracked 357 killings and 30 enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists in 47 countries. Moreover, the births of around one in four children under the age 5 worldwide were never officially recorded. This means that they were deprived of a proof of legal identity, crucial for the protection of their rights and for access to justice and social services.

All of the above problems, and many more, need to be resolved by 2030. Let’s take a look at numbers connected to the goal:

Facts and figures about violence:

• Every day, 100 civilians – including women and children – are killed in armed conflicts despite protections under international law

• Among the institutions most affected by corruption are the judiciary and police

• Corruption, bribery, theft and tax evasion cost some US $1.26 trillion for developing countries per year; this amount of money could be used to lift those who are living on less than $1.25 a day above $1.25 for at least six years

• Birth registration has occurred for 73 per cent of children under 5, but only 46 per cent of Sub-Saharan Africa have had their births registered.

• Approximately 28.5 million primary school age who are out of school live in conflict-affected areas.

• The rule of law and development have a significant interrelation and are mutually reinforcing, making it essential for sustainable development at the national and international level.

• The proportion of prisoners held in detention without sentencing has remained almost constant in the last decade, at 31 per cent of all prisoners.

These numbers indicate that we have many things to do. Governments, civil society and communities must work together to implement lasting solutions to reduce violence, deliver justice, combat corruption and ensure inclusive participation at all times.

Why is it important?

Armed violence and insecurity have a destructive impact on a country’s development, affecting economic growth.

Violence affects children’s health, development and well-being, and their ability to thrive.

Institutions that do not function according to legitimate laws are prone to arbitrariness and abuse of power, and less capable of delivering public services to everyone.

What can I do?

This is the question you may ask yourself now that you've read all this information. If your answer sounds like this: "Nothing, because only governments and international institutions can solve this" you have to think it over again.

In fact there are some really important thing you can do:

• Exercise your right to hold your elected officials to account.

• Exercise your right to freedom of information and share your opinion with your elected representatives.

• Promote inclusion and respect towards people of different ethnic origins, religions, gender, sexual orientations or different opinions.

But don't worry, you are not alone in this fight.

The 193 countries who signed the Sustainable Development Goals agreed on the following targets and actions:

1. Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere.

2. End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.

3. Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.

4. By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime.

5. Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms.

6. Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.

7. Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.

8. Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance.

9. By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.

10. Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements.

A. Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels, in particular in developing countries, to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime.

B. Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development.

What has happened since 2015?

The world is still a long way from achieving the goal of building peaceful, just and inclusive societies, with millions of people living in fragile and conflict-affected States. At the end of 2019, 79.5 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide, equivalent to 1 per cent of the global population. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inequalities and discrimination and has tested, weakened, and in some cases shattered rights and protection systems in countries and territories.

Globally, around 437,000 people were victims of homicide in 2019. However, lethal violence is slowly decreasing, and homicide rates declined from 6 victims per 100,000 population in 2015 to 5.7 per 100,000 in 2019. Two thirds of all homicide victims were in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, with no sign of numbers falling in sub-Saharan Africa.

As of February 2021, laws on access to information have been adopted by 127 countries and territories, although the implementation of the laws could be improved. The pandemic has slowed the pace of progress in this area, with no countries or territories passing such laws in 2020 and a number of countries and territories temporarily suspending existing legal guarantees. Nevertheless, many countries and territories attempted to make data available concerning COVID-19 infections, the contracting of emergency equipment and the allocation of rescue packages and relief financing.

Child violence and institutions

Globally, an estimated one out of two children aged 2–17 years old suffer some form of violence each year. Over their lifetime, children exposed to violence are at increased risk of mental and physical health problems, and negative educational outcomes. The economic costs of these consequences are enormous.

The Sustainable Development Goals contains a call to eliminate violence against children in Target 16.2: “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children”.

As of 2020, with just a decade remaining to achieve the SDG targets on ending violence against children, how well are we doing? Are the governments and institutions taking the necessary steps? In this post I will examine these question with special attention to Portuguese legislation.

INSPIRE

The United Nations and Unicef created a strategy called INSPIRE to prevent violence against children. The seven INSPIRE strategies empower a new generation of leaders and decision makers to fully implement SDG Target 16.2. Each letter of the word INSPIRE stands for one of seven strategies:

I for implementation and enforcement of laws

N for norms and values

S for safe environments

P for parent and caregiver support

I for income and economic strengthening

R for response and support services

E for education and life skills.

In 2020 Unicef prepared a report to prevent violence against children, examining the status of every country and whether they had managed to complete the INSPIRE strategies and SDG 16.2.

This report found that 89% of countries allocate responsibility to multiple sectors for addressing violence against children, and 80% of countries reported having at least one national action plan to prevent violence against children. These promising findings contrast with the finding that just one fifth of countries have action plans that are fully funded. For me it means that most of the countries have started to eliminate violence against children, but in practice many actions need to be taken before it can happen.

What is happening in Portugal?

We checked the report and examined the status of Portugal. I would like to share some of it with you, here.

Portugal has 7 Government sectors with functions addressing violence against children, 2 of which have coordinating functions. This total number can be enough for a country with around 10 million people. But the real question is if these sectors and institutions can work properly and effectively.

Portugal has fully funded action plans for child maltreatment, youth violence, sexual violence and school-based violance, and a partially funded action plan for gender-based violence. This means that Portugal is part of the few countries that not only implemented the action plans, but provides funds for completing them.

Portugal has also implemented the laws required by INSPIRE providing the legal framework for the future actions.

There are many more factors in the study, according to these we can say that Portugal is doing many different things to prevent violence against children, but there is room for improvement in the following topics:

• Community mobilization

• Addressing violence “hotspot”

• Group savings and loans with gender equity training

• Microfinance and gender equity training

• Mental health services for victims

• Mental health services for perpetrators

• Identification and referral for perpetrators

• Life and social skills training

• Statistics on violence prevalence

Hopefully Portugal will continue the work they started and eliminate child violence by 2030.

The effect of Covid-19

Although the above mentioned survey was made in 2020, we have little information on the effects of Covid-19. Globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a rise in violence and hate online – and this includes bullying. Now, as schools begin to re-open, children are expressing their fears about going back to school. Schools should be safe environments for all children, and this is the responsibility of everyone including governments, local legislators and communities. We need to think and act collectively to stop violence at school and in our societies at large.

Stay-at-home measures including school closures have limited the usual sources of support for families and individuals such as friends, extended family or professionals. This further erodes victims’ ability to successfully cope with crises and the new routines of daily life. Spikes in calls to helplines for child abuse and intimate partner violence have been observed.

And while online communities have become central to maintaining many children’s learning, support and play, an increase in harmful online behaviours including cyberbullying, risky online behavior and sexual exploitation have been identified.