A/70/289 Box 2 Ghana child and family welfare policy 2015 Launched by the President of Ghana in July 2015, the new policy focuses on the prevention of violence, abuse and exploitation of children. The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection will lead and coordinate the implementation of the policy, which is informed by extensive consultations and significant research. The new policy seeks to establish a well-structured and coordinated child and family welfare system to promote the well-being of children, prevent harm and protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. The main objectives of the policy are to: (a) design child and family welfare programmes and activities to prevent violence against children and protect them from it more effectively; (b) ensure effective coordination of the child and family welfare system; (c) empower children and families to understand better abusive situations and make choices to prevent and respond to situations of risk; (d) build the capacity of institutions and service providers to ensure the quality of services for children and families in both urban and rural areas; (e) reform existing laws and policies; and (f) ensure the provision of adequate resources for the functioning of the child and family welfare system at all levels. The policy stresses the importance of implementation, monitoring, evaluation, research and advocacy, and highlights the need to improve t he information management system for overall child protection with better data and evidence of the impact of the expected system reform. B. Clear legislation to ban all forms of violence against children 11. The past year was marked by important legislative reforms to ban violence against children. Andorra, Argentina, Benin, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Estonia, Malta, Nicaragua and San Marino have recently enacted legislation to that effect and several other States are nearing that goal. Today, 47 countries have comprehensive and explicit legal bans on all forms of violence against children, tripling the number in place since 2006. 12. A clear message through legislation is crucial for legitimizi ng action by the authorities and mobilizing social support for changes in perceptions, attitudes and behaviour. However, efforts are also needed to close the gap between law and practice, as violence too often remains accepted as a child -rearing practice, as a form of discipline in schools and care institutions and as a punishment in judicial sentencing. For that reason, many countries accompany legislative reforms with information and social mobilization campaigns to rally support and overcome harmful social norms; with positive parenting and early childhood programmes to promote non-violent discipline; and with guidance, ethical standards and capacity building initiatives to enhance the skills of professionals working with and for children. Those efforts have led to a decrease in the social acceptance of violence and greater confidence in reporting its incidents. Legislative reforms by the Governments of Brazil and Nicaragua to ban violence against children are described in boxes 3 and 4 below. 15-13244 5/25