Global Risks Forum 2025

Beyond the Battlefields: Proven Approaches to Halving Global Violence in Support of the SDGs

Summary

This high-level discussion will share the findings and recommendations of the groundbreaking Flagship Report of the Halving Global Violence Task Force, and make the case for focusing efforts on preventing and reducing interpersonal violence.

About

UNHQ, Conference Room 12

On the sidelines of the 2024 United Nations Summit of the Future Action Days, this side event will mark the launch of the Halving Global Violence (HGV) Task Force’s groundbreaking Flagship Report, “Beyond the Battlefields: Practical Strategies to Halving Global Violence in Our Homes, Streets, and Communities.”

This event is co-hosted by the Center on International Cooperation (CIC) at New York University, the governments of Czechia and Costa Rica, the World Health Organization, and International Idea.

Through years of research, exchange, and cooperation, the Halving Global Violence Task Force has identified successful initiatives to dramatically reduce violence at multiple levels, and has put all this knowledge into its flagship report, “Beyond the Battlefields: Practical Strategies to Halving Global Violence in Our Homes, Streets, and Communities.” The report presents a new and in-depth look at the prevalence and costs of violence and identifies proven, innovative approaches to achieve the ambitious goal of cutting global violence in half. It presents strategies to dramatically reduce violence where it is frequently overlooked, but most often occurs and where there is the greatest promise for a return of investment: in our homes, streets, and communities. Now it’s time to put the report’s ideas into practice and obtain fast progress towards our ambitious goal to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) by halving global violence by 2030.

This high-level event will publicize the report’s groundbreaking findings, and highlight avenues for uptake of its recommendations. The event will feature keynote speeches from a range of speakers, including high-level government officials, members of the multilateral community, local governments and civil society, as well as presentations of key research findings, and an engaging panel discussion exploring specific violence prevention solutions featured in the report.

Speakers

  • H.E. Amb. Martin Kimani, Executive Director, Center on International Cooperation
  • H.E. Amb. Maritza Chan, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations
  • H.E. Amb. Jakub Kulhánek, Permanent Representative of Czechia to the United Nations
  • H.E. Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, Commissioner for Human Rights, Czechia (virtual)
  • H.E. Amb. Adrian Hauri, Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations
  • Mr. Daniel Friedman, Program Director, Halving Global Violence, Center on International Cooperation
  • H.E. Izumi Nakamitsu – High Representative and Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs, United Nations
  • Dr. Etienne Krug – Director of the Department for Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization
  • Mr. Óscar Escobar – former Mayor of Palmira, Colombia
  • Dr. Vasu Gounden – Executive Director, ACCORD

Description

The event presents a new and in-depth look at the prevalence and costs of violence and identifies proven, innovative approaches to achieve the ambitious goal of cutting global violence in half. The event will present strategies to dramatically reduce violence where it is frequently overlooked, but most often occurs and where there is the greatest promise for a return of investment: in our homes, streets, and communities. Through years of research, exchange, and cooperation, we have identified successful initiatives to dramatically reduce violence at multiple levels. Now it’s time to put the report’s ideas into practice and obtain fast progress towards our ambitious goal to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) by halving global violence by 2030.

The report—and this proposed event—capture more than three years of the initiative’s work, highlighting the prevalence of violence across countries and regions, its devastating economic costs, impacts on sustainable development, and proven methods of preventing and reducing it—underscoring that halving global violence is an achievable goal. The report concludes by offering actionable recommendations to stakeholders at all levels on how to accelerate the implementation of the SDG16.1 targets.

This will be a high-level event to publicize the report’s groundbreaking findings, and highlight avenues for uptake of its recommendations. The event will feature keynote speeches from a range of speakers, including high-level government officials and young civil society actors at the frontlines of reducing violence in their communities, as well as presentations of key research findings, and an engaging panel discussion exploring specific violence prevention solutions featured in the report.

Side Event organized by: Center on International Cooperation, Government of Costa Rica, Government of Czechia, World Health Organization.

***

To generate additional opportunities for the engagement of all actors, the Secretary-General of the United Nations is convening the Summit of the Future Action Days on 20 and 21 September 2024 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Bringing together representatives from Member States, civil society, private sector, academia, local and regional authorities, youth, and many more, the Action Days will provide an opportunity for broad engagement and inclusion. These stakeholders have all played a key role in shaping the Pact for the Future and will be critical to its implementation.

Side events provide further insights and opportunities for multi-stakeholder collaboration.

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