Completion of the plan for elimination violence against children

CAIRO – 19 December 2017: Ministry of Health and Population, represented by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), in cooperation with UNICEF, has announced the completion of the strategic framework for the plan of eliminating all forms of violence and extremism against children, which is scheduled for launch early 2018.

Azza El Ashmawi, Secretary General of the NCCM, said the plan is based on implementing the recommendations of the study to prevent violence against children, which was prepared by the council and UNICEF last year.

Ashmawi explained that the plan mirrors the serious negative impact of social networks on children which includes misconceptions about terrorism and extremism. Most children become victims to internet hackers who commit multiple crimes. Electronic crimes, which are committed through the Internet and social media, affect children and adolescents from both sexes’ future.

“The most severe cases may spread the ideology of terrorist and atheist and extremist to the extent of destroying children's future and create a project of young terrorists recruited through organized criminal terrorist groups, working to destroy homeland and dissemination of terrorism," argued Ashmawi.

NCCM Secretary General added, these pirates benefit from children's lack of awareness, immaturity and their inability to differentiate and weigh the pros and cons of what they get easily through the Internet and social networks. Ashmawi revealed that the study is also based on the consequences of violence and its cost, “Violence against children affects investments in the well-being of children, their health and education, as well as it has a negative impact on the productive capacity of future generations, as it impedes the physical, psychological and social development of children in all aspects.”

On his turn, Khaled Megahed, the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health and Population, stressed that children who have been abused or neglected often have learning difficulties, low school performance, problems with transition to youth, and may suffer from self-distrust and depression.

He added that studies indicate that corporal punishment is a cause of depression, misery, anxiety, and feelings of despair among children and adolescents. Even physical punishment, even if only a few times, can also lead to psychological frustration among young people who may lose confidence, which is essential to achieving natural human development, in others.

Megahed pointed out that the ill-treatment of a child has a significant intergenerational impact. Children who have grown up in a violent family or violent community tend to take violence as a means of resolving disputes, as well as repeating violence and abuse with their husbands, wives and children.