Colombia's development of a National Action Plan to end violence against children and youth 2021-2023

Since 2018, Colombia has been making important efforts to prevent violence affecting children and adolescents. In 2018, Colombia conducted the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS), led by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with technical advisory by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), financial and technical support of Together for Girls, operational support by the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), and contributions by other allied partners.

The VACS showed a disturbing situation: approximately two out of five children in Colombia have been victims of violence – either physical, sexual or emotional – before the age of 18. In response to this situation, in 2019, Colombia created the “National Alliance to End Violence Against Children and Adolescents”, to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) on Violence against Children and Adolescents in Colombia 2021-2024. This process received the technical and financial support of the Global Alliance, UNICEF, USAID and Universidad de los Andes.

This report aims to identify the milestones, key actions, and lessons learned from the development of the NAP in Colombia.