On 2 February 2015, members of the 136th WHO Executive Board discussed the recently released WHO/UNDP/UNODC Global status report on violence prevention 2014. 18 Member States commented during the discussion, including several that spoke on behalf of all countries in their region, such as Lithuania, which spoke for the Baltic and Nordic Member States and the Netherlands; Namibia, which spoke for Member States in the WHO African Region; and the United States, which spoke for Member States in the WHO Region of the Americas.
All Member States commended WHO, UNDP and UNODC on having produced the Global status report on violence prevention 2014, which reviews data on violence prevention programmes, policies and laws, and services for victims from 133 countries representing 88% of the world's population. The United Kingdom described the report as "shining a much needed spotlight on all forms of violence", the United States as "the next step in our common vision to one day raise our children in a world free from violence", and Belgium as an important next step towards the global plan of action, but also a "worrying" report that should leave us all concerned, since it clearly shows how much more remains to be done.
Several Member States noted the relevance of the report as a basis for development of a global plan of action to strengthen the role of the health system to address interpersonal violence in particular against women and girls and against children. The United States suggested that the Global status report on violence prevention 2014, along with other WHO technical documents, should be used as a source of global indicators on national responses to violence to be reflected in the global plan of action. Throughout 2015, the Global status report on violence prevention 2014 will be the focus of numerous regional and national policy discussions, and will also be presented to various international fora which address violence.
Referring to progress made in developing the global plan of action, Member States strongly endorsed the key role that the health sector has to play in addressing violence, and many noted that it is crucial for the global plan of action to cover prevention and the provision of services, both for victims of violence and for perpetrators. Many also highlighted the need for the plan to clearly situate the role of the health system within a broader multisectoral response. From February to June 2015, WHO will host a series of regional and country consultations on development of the global plan of action. Based on these consultations, a final draft will be submitted for consideration to the WHO Executive Board in January 2016, with a view to adoption of the global plan of action by the World Health Assembly in May 2016.
Related links
Global status report on violence prevention 2014
