Council of Europe

Particular aspects of Congress Resolution 289 (2009) on preventing violence against children are relevant to the Congress’ contribution to the ONE in FIVE Campaign:

• setting up of mechanisms and action plans, co-operating with the state and other agencies;

• establishing quality management systems for child care services and benchmarks for agencies;

• developing regional guidelines for detection, assessment, protection and response;

• evaluation and monitoring of plans and policies.

The Congress’ action in the ONE in FIVE Campaign will be based on these aspects although it should be borne in mind that local and regional authorities do not have equal access to financial resources and that implementation of measures will depend not only on available resources but also on factors such as population size. Recourse to loans will depend on the authority’s ability to meet repayments.

The challenge to local and regional authorities in cases of sexual violence against children is to develop and implement community-based action plans and strategies, and to invest in better services that respect children's rights in order to deliver locally what children and families need, to stop sexual violence and to bring perpetrators to justice. Awareness raising and political will at this level is extremely important.