A/78/214 I. Introduction 1. Guided by General Assembly resolution 62/141, by which the Assembly established the mandate, the Special Representative of the Secretary -General on Violence against Children is a global, independent advocate for the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against children. In its resolut ion 76/147, the Assembly reaffirmed its support for the work of the Special Representative, recognizing the progress achieved and the role of her mandate in promoting further implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study on violence against children and in supporting Member States in their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Assembly took note, with appreciation, of the Special Representative’s leadership in the follow-up to the United Nations global study on children deprived of liberty and encouraged the Special Representative to continue her work in that regard. In the resolution, the Secretary -General requests that the Special Representative continue to submit reports to the Assembly on the activities undertaken to fulfil her mandate, including information on her country visits and on the progress achieved and the challenges remaining to ensure the protection and well-being of children. 2. In the present report, the Special Representative identifies key global challenges that are increasing children’s exposure and vulnerability to violence, with a particular focus on the protection of children in the context of travel and tourism. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had a substantial impact on the travel and tourism sector, with severe economic consequences for many States worldwide. As the sector recovers, the Special Representative emphasizes that it must do so in a manner that ensures the protection of children from all forms of violence – including trafficking, child labour and diverse forms of exploitation – leaving no child behind. II. Investment in child protection and well-being cannot wait A. Children are paying a high price 3. Children’s vulnerability to violence has continued to be exacerbated worldwide by multiple and overlapping crises. With risks being magnified and responses failing to meet the scale of the challenge, the world is not on track to keep the promise made under the 2030 Agenda to end all forms of violence against children. The impact of violence is devastating, immediate and lifelong. It impairs children’s brain development, their physical and mental health and their ability to learn. In addition to the human cost, the economic costs are staggering (see A/HRC/49/57). 4. Children continue to feel the impact of COVID-19, with around 100 million additional children falling into multidimensional poverty as a result of the pandemic. 1 In 2022, the births of around one in every four children under the age of 5 worldwide were never officially recorded (see A/78/80-E/2023/64). Poverty is a powerful driver of violence, including child labour, child marriage, child trafficking, child sexual exploitation and the recruitment of children into criminal, armed and/or violent extremist groups. In addition, the cumulative shocks of the climate crisis are exacerbating other ongoing crises – including the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic – and acting as a threat multiplier for violence against children. The United Nations Children’s Fund estimates that 1 billion children are at extremely high risk of being affected by the climate crisis. 2 Meanwhile, around 1.5 billion children under the __________________ 1 2 2/17 See www.unicef.org/social-policy/child-poverty. See United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), The Climate Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis (New York, 2021). 23-14372