This opinion piece argues that despite global commitments under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the world is failing to safeguard children from violence, exploitation, and neglect, with an estimated one billion girls and boys experiencing harm annually in homes, schools, communities, care settings, and online. Highlighting that violence against children is preventable, the article calls for urgent political leadership, investment, and adoption of evidence-based strategies like the WHO’s INSPIRE framework to strengthen health, social protection, and justice systems; it also discusses how the new WHO Council of Champions aims to turn proven prevention into global political action.