In its commitment to eliminate violence against children (VAC) in the region, the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) has just released ASEAN Guidelines for a Non-violent Approach to Nurture, Care and Development of Children in All Settings. This follows the development of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Violence Against Children of 2013 and the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence Against Children (RPA) of 2014.

The ASEAN Guidelines complement the RPA in that the RPA is the blueprint or roadmap for ASEAN member states to eliminate VAC while the Guidelines inform actions at the micro-level: home, school, community, workplace, alternative care/children’s shelter, early childhood care and development centers (baby homes, nurseries, and day care facilities), and juvenile justice centers.

The ASEAN Guidelines helps those who nurture and care for children to enable the latter to attain their full potential and well-being, free from threats and violence. They can be implemented at the national and local levels in all ASEAN member states in accordance to national and local context and circumstances. They may be used by governments, non-government organizations, and anyone who works with and for children.

The ASEAN Guidelines comply with Article 19 and General Comment 13 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), to which all the ASEAN member states are party.

To read or download the ASEAN Guidelines, please click here.