R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S from the Worl d report on violence a nd health Given the huge, and often hidden, complexity behind vi olence it w il l take a w ide rang e of actors to success - fully implement violence-prevention programmes. From health professionals to community workers, from law enforcement off ic ials to school a uthorities, from urban planners to med ia campa igners – vi olence prevention has to f orm many alliances and take vari- ous forms. Most important of all, tackling violence prevention requires political and financial commit- ment. T he enga gement of g overnments and other stakeho lders at all levels of d ecision-ma ki ng – l ocal, national and international is also crucial to the success of any p rogram me to prevent vi olence. Recognising vi olence and its effects ma y require a grea t de al of courage and fortitude as the many faces of violence go deep into the root s of fa mil ies , societies and cul- ture s. T he mess ag e of the World repo rt on violence and health is that this political commitment must be ma de a nd t hat chang e is possible. The following rec- omme nda tions for preventing vi olence reflect the need for multi-sectoral and collaborative approaches: 1. Create, implement and monitor a national action plan for violence prevention Nat ional planning to prevent violence should b e based on a consensus developed by a w ide rang e of governmental and nongovernmental actors. It should include a timetable and evaluation mechanism, and enable collaboration betw een sectors that might con- tribute to preventing violence, suc h a s the criminal jus tice, huma n rights, education, lab our, health, and soci al w elfa re secto rs. Many coun tries currently do not ha ve a national plan nor a coordi nating agency or depa rtment th at d eals w ith violence comprehen - si vely . To d a te, f or exa mple, in ma ny countries the response if mostly focused on law and order, w ith only li mited strateg ic cooperat ion w ith other authori ties to help reduce violence. Formulating and implementing a coherent and multi-disciplinary national plan is the first critical s tep towards violence prevention. 2. Enhance capacity for collecting data on violence Most a cts and conseque nces of violence remain hid- den and unreported . Consequently, there is insuffi- ci ent d at a o n w hich to form coherent policy respons- es. Reliable data on violence a re cruci al not only for setting priori ties, guiding prog ramme design and monitoring prog ress, but a ls o for advocacy to help rais e a wareness ab out the iss ue. Wi thout information, there is little pressure on a nyone to acknow ledge o r respond to the problem. Data needs to be collected at various sett ings such a s hospitals, poli ce stat ions, com - munity centres and othe r places where a utho ri ties come into contact w ith victims and perpetua tors of violence. It is also equally important that this informa- tion be shared a cross ag enci es and tha t internationa l- ly accepted standards for data collection be adopted to enhance the comparability of data across these agencies and even between nations and cultures. 3. Define priorities for , and support research on, the caus es, cons equences , cos ts and prevention of violence Al tho ugh t here has been g reat prog ress in the understand ing of vi olence and vi olence prevention, questions still remain. At the national and local level, research can be a dvanced b y government policy, by direct involvement of go vernment institutions, and by funding to academic institutions and independent researchers. Among many research priorities, there is a pres sing need t o d evelop o r ada pt, test and evalu- ate many more prevention programmes in bo th developing and developed countries. At the g lobal level, iss ues ca ll ing fo r cross- na tiona l research include the relat ionship betw een violence and various aspects of g lobalization; risk and protective factors commo n to different cul tures and societies ; and promising pre- vention app roaches applicable in a variety of con- texts. Resources for conducting and evaluating this research are needed. 4. Promote primary prevention responses T he importa nce of primary prevention – an d t he lack of suc h prog ramming in many countries – is a theme echoed throughout the World report o n violence and health . Some of the important primary prevention interventions for reducing violence include: prenatal and perinata l health care for mo thers, as w ell as pres chool enric hment and social d evelop- ment progra mmes for children and a dolescents; training for good parenting practices and improved fa mil y functioning; improvement s to urba n infrastructure, bo th ph ysi- cal and socioeconomic; measures to reduce firearm injuries and improve firearm- relat ed saf ety; media campaigns to change attitudes, behavi our and social norms. T he first tw o interventions are importa nt for reducing child abuse an d neg lect a s w ell as vi olence perpetra t- ed d uri ng adoles cence a nd a dulthood. T he latte r three can have significant impacts on several types of vio- lence suc h a s youth an d collective violence o r sui ci de.