UK is scaling up support to tackle the global issue of violence against young people, Latin America Minister Baroness Chapman announces at an international conference in Bogotá
- Violence prevention, security and education on the agenda as Minister for Latin America, Baroness Chapman, arrives in Colombia for the first time
- Minister will announce £5m of UK funding to help tackle child marriage around the world during Violence Against Children conference in Bogotá
- UK and Colombia also look ahead to 200 years of diplomatic relations, continuing joint work on peace, security and climate.
The UK is scaling up support to tackle the global issue of violence against young people, Latin America Minister Baroness Chapman will announce at an international conference in Bogotá today (7 November).
Minister Chapman will speak at the first global Violence Against Children (VAC) Ministerial conference. The conference has been organised by the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on VAC, Sweden and Colombia. She will head up the UK's delegation and be joined by the UK Special Envoy for Gender Equality Alicia Herbert OBE.
With half the world's children experiencing violence each year, the Minister will highlight the UK's commitment to helping tackle violence against children globally wherever it occurs by working together with partners.
She will announce that the UK will be scaling up its support with a new commitment of up to £5m to help tackle child marriage globally, to be implemented by increasing funding for grassroots and girl-centred organisations.
Baroness Chapman said:
Any secure, peaceful society depends on the wellbeing of its young people, who must be able to achieve their full potential without fear of violence.
This is why we are coming together here in Bogotá - with partners from across the globe - committing to tackling violence against children wherever it occurs, including a new commitment of up to £5m from the UK to support grassroots organisations to end child marriage.
Colombia is an important Latin American partner to the UK - celebrating 200 years of diplomatic relations next year - and I am also pleased to be here to help progress our joint work on security, climate and education.
The pledge builds on the UK's existing commitments in the field of violence prevention - with £67.5m already being invested in programmes designed to tackle cycles of harm in vulnerable communities.
During her visit Minister Chapman will also meet with Vice Foreign Minister Jorge Rojas, and Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo, and underline the UK's long-term commitment to working with Colombia on peace and security, climate, education and culture.
She will also attend an event at the premises of the British Council in Bogotá to witness one of its flagship education programmes in action. Colombia is home to some of the greatest inequalities in education in the Americas, and the British Council has had a presence in the country since 1939, progressing work to achieve greater equality in education, support for vulnerable young people, and to enable their access to employment options and the justice system.
The UK and Colombia will celebrate 200 years of diplomatic relations in 2025.
