A/67/230 IV. Accelerating progress in a complex global environment 79. The analysis of Governments’ responses, together with the overall findings of the global survey, constitutes a crucial reference for the work ahead. First, it confirms the relevance and urgency of consolidating and scaling up initiatives to achieve the three priority goals pursued under the Special Representative’s mandate, namely, developing a well-coordinated and well-resourced national agenda on violence against children, enacting a comprehensive and explicit legal ban on all forms of violence, and consolidating data and research to inform accelerated progress in this field. 80. Second, the work conducted over the past three years has also helped to gain a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of violence and of the need to maintain a holistic view of the child when initiatives for the prevention and elimination of violence are pursued. It is critical to address the cumulative exposure of girls and boys to various manifestations of violence in different contexts, and throughout the child’s life cycle. Indeed, for children at risk, violence in the home, in the school and in the community is a continuum, spilling over from one setting to another, and at times persisting across generations. 81. Third, violence does not take place in a vacuum. Indeed, children’s vulnerability, as well as genuine opportunities for preventing violence and for responding to it are strongly affected by such important factors as poverty and vulnerability, climate change and natural disasters, and armed violence and organized crime. Poverty, human development and economic crisis 82. Children are at the heart of the Millennium Declaration and Development Goals. Progress in their achievement contributes to a protective and safe environment for children, within which children can develop to their full potential. At the same time, violence remains a serious factor hampering the effective attainment of the Goals, especially for the most marginalized children, including those marginalized as a result of poverty, disability, HIV infection or gender. 83. The relationship between poverty and violence is multifaceted and strongly interconnected. Humiliation, bullying, stigmatization and exploitation are frequent components of the daily life of children growing up in poverty. Violence and deprivation have a cumulative impact on their development, with high risks of poor health, poor school performance and long-term welfare dependency. 84. Poverty, vulnerability and economic hardship are factors of stress in the community and in the home, generating a higher incidence of violence, including domestic violence. As families struggle to meet their basic needs, children may be pressed to drop out from school to contribute to household income; girls may be placed at risk of involvement in hazardous economic activities, including domestic service, begging and sexual exploitation; or forced to marry, the risk of getting married before the age of 18 being three times higher among poor girls. 14 85. Children growing up in poverty are less likely to access basic social services of quality or to benefit from effective preventive initiatives or protection mechanisms. This is a particularly acute problem for children living or working on the street, who __________________ 14 20 UNICEF, “Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse: a statistical snapshot”, June 2011, p. 3. 12-45164