United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Thursday called on the international community to energize further efforts to handle growing violence in schools and stop harassment.

Following a meeting with education ministers of the group of seven (G7), UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay called on all the countries to "step up their fight" against what she described as a "scourge that undermines education, breaks lives, ruins childhoods and compromises the future."

"Harassment at schools is unacceptable," she said.

"We have solid data and practical guidelines, and now we need to step up our efforts with all member states, including the G7, to tackle harassment," she stressed.

According to the Paris-based organization's latest report on education, 32 percent of students in the world were harassed by their classmates at least once last month.

Working to guarantee the safety of children in schools, UNESCO said it had developed a harmonized indicator aimed at evaluating the situation from one country to another, in a way to help strengthen legislation, train teachers and combat school violence in the concerned states.

The UN educational body will organize an international conference in Paris in 2020 to further shed light on the issue and seek ways to ensure a safe education for all.