A/67/230 marginalized neighbourhoods, participation in gang culture may be perceived as a way of gaining status and recognition; according to some studies, as many as 15 per cent of all youth in gang-affected communities may end up joining a gang, 15 being the typical age of gang entry. 23 97. Against this background, public fear of gang violence and youth crime has generated social pressure for the criminalization of children and adolescents, together with a call for a lower minimum age of criminal responsibility and longer sentences of imprisonment. This has been accompanied by media stigmatization of children belonging to disadvantaged groups and a culture of tolerance of institutionalized violence against them. C. Cost of violence 98. Aggravated by poverty and vulnerability, climate change and natural disasters, armed violence and organized crime, violence is a serious risk for children’s survival, health, education and development. 99. But beyond the cost to each individual victim, violence has serious costs for households, communities and national economies. As noted in a WHO study, meeting the direct costs of health, criminal justice, and social welfare responses to violence diverts many billions of dollars from more constructive societal spending. The much larger indirect costs of violence due to lost productivity and lost investment in education work together to slow economic development, increase socioeconomic inequality, and erode human and social capital. 24 Investing in the prevention of violence is therefore of critical importance, not only as a question of human rights and good governance but also of good economics. V. Looking ahead 100. The present report provides an overview of results achieved and progress promoted by the Special Representative and is intended to support the review of the mandate and its funding by the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session. 25 101. The past few years have been marked by a consolidated commitment to preventing and eliminating violence against children. There has been a strengthened understanding of children’s exposure to violence, while strategic actions have been undertaken to ensure their effective protection; significant normative, policy and institutional developments have helped to advance national implementation of the protection of children from violence, together with the revitalization of networks and the development of new partnerships to support advocacy and social mobilization, and the institutionalization of the follow-up to the Study recommendations by Governments, regional organizations and civil society actors. __________________ 23 24 25 12-45164 Geneva Declaration Secretariat, Global Burden of Armed Violence 2008, p. 129. “Preventing violence and reducing its impact: how development agencies can help”, WHO, 2008, p. 7. See General Assembly resolution 62/141, para. 58. In its resolution 19/37, adopted in April 2012, the Human Rights Council called for adequate and predictable financial support for the continued, effective and independent performance of the Special Representative’s mandate. 23