MONROVIA DECLARATION ON CHILDREN

1. THIRD HIGH LEVEL PANEL MEETING ON THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

                                                   Monrovia, Liberia
                                          28 January - 2 February 2013

                  
We the children and child rights agencies would like to thank the High Level Panel for the opportunity to
input into the Post 2015 Agenda process. With over 2.2 billion children living in the world today, we must be
central to the Post 2015 Development Agenda.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have made a significant impact on the lives of billions, but
there is still much more to be done to address extreme poverty, diseases, environmental crises and violence,
particularly for children. The global development agenda for the period after 2015 must be built on the
progress made on the MDGs while confronting persistent inequalities and new and neglected challenges
facing children and their families.
At children consultation forums, we articulated the following seven priorities, with special focus on the most
vulnerable and marginalized children, on what we would like the High Level Panel to consider when
developing the post 2015 development framework:
1. Access to early childhood development services and quality basic education for both girls and boys
in a safe and conducive environment
2. Ensuring Child Participation in decision making – particularly in the formulation, implementation
and review of the MDGs post 2015 and national development agenda
3. Access to health care for all including sexual and reproductive health services
4. Care and service provision for children living with disabilities including mental health care
services, inclusive education, public transport and special budgetary allocation
5. Emphasis on reducing malnutrition and ensuring adequate nutrition for all children
6. Protection from violence including harmful traditional practices (e.g FGM and early marriage),
and exploitation, and increased access to services for child victims of violence
7. Good governance, accountability and adequate budgetary allocations for children
We will not be able to fully realize the existing development goals relating to children without addressing
protection from violence and exploitation. The post-2015 agenda needs to consider the multidimensional
aspects of poverty, including vulnerability and the need for protection.
Violence against children takes place in every country and has serious effects on a child’s development. 150
million girls and 73 million boys are raped or subject to sexual violence every year. An estimated 246 million
children worldwide are engaged in some kind of labour, about 180 million of them in hazardous conditions.
20 million boys and girls have been forced to flee their homes and more than one million children have been
separated from their families.
It is vital that the issue of violence perpetrated against children be explicitly included in the Post 2015
agenda. For countries to achieve social and economic transformation, growth and prosperity, they must
invest in children and address protection.
We thank you for this opportunity and hope that concrete steps shall be taken to ensure children will become
active participants in shaping the new development agenda and ensuring that governments follow through on
their commitments.
30 January 2013
MONROVIA DECLARATION ON CHILDREN
THIRD HIGH LEVEL PANEL MEETING ON THE POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
Monrovia, Liberia
28 January - 2 February 2013