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A new research released on Thursday showed that physical, psychological and sexual violence perpetrated against children cost the world up to seven trillion US dollars every year. The study, commissioned by ChildFund Alliance and conducted by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) also revealed that the total cost of violence against children were up to eight per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was more than the GDPs of Australia, India, China, Canada and Mexico combined. The Christian Children�s Fund of Canada (CCFC), a child centered non-governmental organisation, (NGO) in a press conference in Tamale on Thursday to discuss the research, expressed concern about the continuous abuse of children�s rights the world over. The study estimated that the global cost of children forced to work in hazardous conditions, which deprived them of their childhood amounted to 97 billion dollars every year, while the annual cost of recruiting children by armed groups was also 144 million dollars. The ChildFund Alliance is a worldwide alliance of 12 children�s development organisations working in 58 countries to improve the lives of vulnerable and excluded children, and to help them overcome poverty to achieve their rights. The alliance had conducted over 50 consultations with children in 40 countries across Africa including Ghana, Asia pacific, the Americas and Europe, where over 2,300 children gave their views, aspirations and priorities for the post 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agenda. The CCFC coordinated the Ghana consultation, where children from Savelugu, Kanvili and Gburimani Districts were interviewed and endorsed that the gains made under the MDGs should continue. According to the new study, 82 per cent of children in all participating countries, want prevention of violence and exploitation to be one of the new priorities for the post-2015 years, and made specific calls to end bullying, child labour, child marriage, child trafficking, corporal punishment, female genital mutilation and violence in schools. Mr Evans Sinkari, acting Country Director of CCFC, who addressed the press conference, said the release of the study was timely because it would prompt world leaders currently meeting in New York, to discuss the next set of global priorities and ensure that children�s priorities were also recognized. He urged world leaders to ensure that violence perpetrated against children be made part of the new global agenda.