The COVID 19 pandemic is having a devastating impact across the world Efforts to contain the coronavirus are vital to the health of the world s population but they are also exposing children to increased risk of violence including maltreatment gender based violence and sexual exploitation As leaders of organisations committed to ending violence against children we come together in solidarity to share our deep concern call for action and pledge our support to protect children from violence and reduce the impact of COVID 19 on children in every country and community A third of the global population is on COVID 19 lockdown and school closures have impacted more than 1 5 billion children Movement restrictions loss of income isolation overcrowding and high levels of stress and anxiety are increasing the likelihood that children experience and observe physical psychological and sexual abuse at home particularly those children already living in violent or dysfunctional family situations And while online communities have become central to maintain many children s learning support and play it is also increasing their exposure to cyberbullying risky online behavior and sexual exploitation The situation is aggravated by children s lack of access to schoolfriends teachers social workers and the safe space and services that schools provide The most vulnerable children including refugees migrants and children who are internally displaced deprived of liberty living without parental care living on the street and in urban slums with disabilities and living in conflict affected areas are a particular concern For many growing economic vulnerability will increase the threat of child labour child marriage and child trafficking We must act now Together we call on governments the international community and leaders in every sector to urgently respond with a united effort to protect children from the heightened risk of violence exploitation and abuse as part of the broader response to COVID 19 Governments have a central role to play They must ensure that COVID 19 prevention and response plans integrate age appropriate and gender sensitive measures to protect all children from violence neglect and abuse Child protection services and workers must be designated as essential and resourced accordingly Working with and supporting governments our collective response must include maintaining essential health and social welfare services including mental health and psychosocial support providing child protection case management and emergency alternative care arrangements ensuring social protection for the most vulnerable children and households continuing care and protection for children in institutions and communicating with and engaging parents caregivers and children themselves with evidence based information and advice National helplines school counsellors and other child friendly reporting mechanisms enable children in distress to reach out for help and must be adapted to the challenges of COVID 19 Given the heightened risks of online harms technology companies and telecoms providers must do everything they can to keep children safe online This includes providing access to cost free child helplines age appropriate services and safe e education platforms and using their platforms to share child online safety advice They must also do more to detect and stop harmful activity against children online including grooming and the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse images and videos As global organisations working to end violence against children we will continue to advocate for and invest in effective child protection solutions We will collectively develop and share technical resources and guidance for policymakers practitioners parents caregivers and children themselves And we will support the courageous health child protection and humanitarian professionals working around the clock to keep children safe during these unprecedented times In recent years the global community has made significant gains in protecting children from violence We must not allow those gains to be lost during the current turmoil We must do all we can to keep children safe now And we must plan ahead together so that once the immediate health crisis is over we can get back on track towards the goal of ending all forms of violence abuse and neglect of children