More than 300 children joined hands to 'paint' their rights on a big wall in Beirut Urban Area Development Program (ADP) last week as part of World Vision's four-day-national campaign to prevent child abuse.

The children marched from different streets to finally gather in Nabaa square, the poorest area of the ADP, where they enjoyed circus performance, games and painting on mural.
Jointly organized with local and international NGOs, the event commemorates the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse.

A press conference with the Ministry of Social Affairs Nayla Mouawad, preceded on Friday, and commemorated the beginning of the campaign.

'World Vision is convinced that every one of us has the responsibility to protect children from abuse and violence,' said Brian Jonson, World Vision Lebanon's communications manager, while addressing Mouawad during the press conference.

'We are currently calling on the critical need of creating a national law to ban violence against children and the urgency to set up a system and procedures that allow people to report cases of violence and follow up on allegations with relevant authorities,' Jonson said.

'World Vision Lebanon is working on three levels to ensure that our policy work is effective: legislation, policy implementation and public awareness,' says Patricio Cuevas-Parra, World Vision Lebanon's advocacy and protection manager.

'These three dimensions are preconditions to tackle violence against children that requires significant cultural transformation in the Lebanese society alongside the policy change,' Cuevas-Parra said.


Studies and statistic around the globe have shown that millions of children are being subjected to violence, abuse and denied their rights to a safe and healthy childhood.

According to an UN study, in over 100 countries, children in schools suffer legalized corporal punishment, in at least 30 countries sentences of caning are still being imposed on children in penal systems and in most of the countries parents are allowed to physically punish their children. This harsh reality also affects Lebanon.

'Through this annual national campaign we aim to raise awareness about the different types of violence and settings. The core message of our advocacy work is the same than the UN Study on violence against children: 'no violence against children is justifiable and all violence against children is preventable,' Cuevas Parra said.