National Action Plan for Safety Promotion among Children and Youth

Protecting children and young people from injuries, suicides and violence

Safety is one of the fundamental rights of every child and young person, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Since 2009, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has coordinated at the national level the prevention of accidents and suicides among children and young people. More recently, the prevention of violence against children and young people was also added to the duties of THL.

The work is now coordinated through three separate entities.

The previous programme, published in 2018, will no longer be implemented in its original form. The new programmes, strategies and action plan contain, in updated form, the related objectives and measures from the previous programme:

Part I of the National Programme for the Promotion of the Safety of Children and Young People (THL 2018; in Finnish, English abstract)

Injuries

The new ‘Safety At All Ages’: Target Programme for the Prevention of Home and Leisure 2021–2030 and Report on the Costs of Injuries Injuries was launched on 13 November 2020. The programme is coordinated by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and was prepared by THL through the use of extensive expert working groups.

It includes objectives and measures to prevent home and leisure accidents in different age groups: children and young people (0–24), working age people (25–64) and elderly (over 65).

Publication:

Safely at all ages: Target Programme for the Prevention of Home and Leisure Injuries 2021–2030 and Report on the Costs of Injuries (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health; in Finnish, English abstract)

Promoting safety and prevention of injuries (THL website, in Finnish)

Injury prevention (STM website, in Finnish)

Suicides

In early 2020, the government published national mental health promotion policies and measures for the prevention of suicides. The programme also covers suicide prevention work among children and young people.

Suicide prevention programme (THL website)

Publication:

National mental health strategy and suicide prevention programme 2020–2030 (Vorma et al. / Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2020)

Prevention of violence against children

In November 2019, the Non-Violent Childhoods : Action Plan for the Prevention of Violence against Children 2020–2025 was published in Finnish (November 2020 in English). The cross-administrative plan includes national targets and 93 evidence-based measures to prevent violence against people aged between 0 and 17.

The implementation of the plan is monitored and guided by a steering group consisting of representatives of five ministries (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education and Culture, and Ministry of Employment and the Economy) and 28 other organisations. An implementation and communication plan is being prepared for this action plan.

The website for the action plan will be published in the Research and Projects section of the thl.fi website in January 2021.

Publication:

Non-Violent Childhoods – Action Plan for the Prevention of Violence against Children 2020–2025 (Korpilahti et al. / Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2020)

Prevention of violence against children (THL website, in Finnish)