A/HRC/22/55 7. As an independent global advocate on violence against children, the Special Representative undertook significant initiatives to rally firm support and step up national progress in children’s protection from violence. Through the mobilization of political and social support and the institutionalization of regional partnerships, together with policy and legal reforms, information-sharing and cross-fertilization of experiences, and the consolidation of data and research, violence against children has gained visibility in the public debate and on the policy agenda. 8. To advance national initiatives and bring the mandate closer to national stakeholders and the public at large, the Special Representative conducted over 70 missions in more than 40 countries in all regions. Country visits provided a valuable opportunity to promote the implementation of the Study recommendations, as well as to address a wide range of concerns, including the universal ratification of human rights treaties; the enactment and enforcement of legislation to ban all forms of violence, protect child victims and establish child-sensitive counselling, reporting and complaint mechanisms, and fight impunity; the consolidation of data and research to inform policymaking; and the protection of children from violence in schools and care and justice institutions. 9. In this process a special emphasis was placed on: (a) violence; Consolidating the human rights foundation of children’s freedom from (b) Enhancing awareness and consolidating knowledge for the prevention and elimination of violence against children; (c) (d) system; and (e) Institutionalizing partnerships with regional organizations and institutions; Strengthening strategic alliances within and beyond the United Nations Monitoring and re-energizing progress to inform a forward looking agenda. These dimensions have been addressed in previous annual reports. In view of their strategic importance some of them are further updated in the sections below. A. Consolidating the human rights foundation of children’s freedom from violence 10. Recognized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international standards, the protection of children from violence is a fundamental human right and critically relevant for the realization of the rights of the child. This human rights imperative was pursued through promoting the ratification and implementation of core child rights treaties and supporting strategic standard-setting initiatives. 11. The United Nations campaign for the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child was a major initiative in this area. Launched in May 2010 by the Secretary-General, the campaign is supported by the Special Representative alongside the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. 12. There have been important results associated with the campaign: 24 new States adhered to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and more than two thirds of those not yet parties formally committed to its 4