Adverse childhood experiences are physical, sexual or emotional abuse and neglect as well as witnessing family violence, addiction or mental health episodes in the household. Firstly, new evidence on the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences will be presented-to give a sense of the magnitude of the problem. Secondly, research will be presented which demonstrates a direct link between the level of adversity in childhood and worse outcomes in adulthood in health, addiction, imprisonment, education and life success and new evidence from the field of neuroscience which explains this link. Thirdly ways to prevent and respond to childhood adversity and support victims will be presented, including integrated child protection systems, better equipped education systems and breaking the public taboo on the theme.

Benjamin Perks is the UNICEF Representative to Montenegro and United Nations Resident Coordinator a.i. and also occasionally works for United Nations Staff College training on Human Rights Based Approach to Programming. He has served in numerous countries including Afghanistan, India, Georgia and Albania. He holds a Masters Degree in International Conflict Analysis from University of Kent in Canterbury and a Bachelors Degree in Contemporary Studies (History and Politics) from University of Hertfordshire and has recently completed a programme on Leadership and Education Reform at the Graduate School of Education at University of Harvard.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx