Given the complex causality of violence and injuries, their prevention requires multisectoral and multidisciplinary efforts at national and local levels. For the prevention and control of child abuse, for example, collaboration is required across at least the sectors of health, social services, education, justice, and the police. Each sector has a specific role to play and contribution to make. However, to be coherent, each part of the response needs to be guided by a common vision, strategies, and objectives. These should be articulated in a national policy document designed to provide both overall direction and more specific objectives and activities of all involved in violence and injury prevention. Developing such a policy document—which, depending on the country and the focus could be a policy, a strategy, or a plan of action—serves not only to enhance synergies in approaches across sectors, but also to identify possible gaps, conflicts, and inconsistencies; facilitate the allocation of resources; and increase visibility at the political level.

The World report on violence and health and the World report on road traffic injury prevention launched by WHO in 2002 and 2004, respectively, sought to bring violence and …