Our Achievements

# Child Rights
Submission to UN

## Ending Violence, Including Corporal Punishment, of Children in Sri Lanka

Stop Child Cruelty Trust (SCCT) is a registered charitable trust dedicated to ending violence against children, with a special focus on eliminating corporal punishment in Sri Lankan schools under SDG 16.2.

Since its establishment in 2018, SCCT has successfully carried out extensive awareness programs, training sessions, and advocacy campaigns. SCCT works in partnership with internationally recognized organizations such as End Violence Against Children, the Global Initiative to End Corporal Punishment of Children, and UNICEF.

Dr Tush Wickramanayaka, founder and chairperson of SCCT, became the only Sri Lankan to be recognised as the Global End Violence Champion at the Children & Youth (CY21) forum convened by UNICEF. In September 2021, SCCT spearheaded the creation of Sri Lankaâ€™s first Child Protection Alliance, a network of credible organizations committed to protecting and promoting the rights of children.

## Context and Justification

From July 2020 to July 2022, sixteen children were physically or sexually abused, neglected, and murdered. Yet, the Government of Sri Lanka has done nothing effective to ensure the safety and welfare of approximately 5.1 million children, who make up 25% of the population. This is an unprecedented level of unnatural child deaths in a country without armed conflict, famine, natural disasters, or disease.

Sri Lankaâ€™s first and second Universal Periodic Reviews took place in May 2008 and November 2012. The country ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991. Despite promises by successive governments at every international forum, the Government of Sri Lanka has failed to fulfill its legal obligations to protect and promote childrenâ€™s rights.

During the third UPR Working Group, Sri Lanka accepted recommendations to continue protecting children, prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, including at home, and adopt special measures to ensure vulnerable children have meaningful access to the justice system and complaint procedures. In the UNCRCâ€™s concluding observations on Sri Lankaâ€™s combined fifth and sixth periodic reports, urgent action was recommended to prohibit violence, including corporal punishment, as a top priority.

SCCT submits recommendations to the UNHRC UPR 4th cycle in support of child rights reform.
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