A/HRC/7/8 page 5 II. MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN RELATION TO THE MANDATE A. Positive developments during the year 8. The Special Rapporteur is pleased that 12 more countries, namely Australia, Burundi, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Gabon, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Mauritania, Moldova, Montenegro, Sweden and Vanuatu had ratified or acceded in 2007 to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography since his last report. The Special Rapporteur strongly encourages the States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the two Optional Protocols to the Convention, the other being on children and armed conflict. 9. At the regional level, 2007 was marked by the adoption of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse by the Committee of Ministers on 12 July 2007. This Convention aims to prevent and combat sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children, protect the rights of child victims of sexual exploitation and abuse and promote national and international cooperation against sexual exploitation and abuse of children. 10. This Convention follows other recent initiatives in this field, in particular the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action, adopted at the first World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (27-31 August 1996), the Yokohama Global Commitment adopted at the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (17-20 December 2001), the Budapest Commitment and Plan of Action, adopted at the preparatory conference for the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (20-21 November 2001), General Assembly resolution S-27/2 “A world fit for children” and the three-year programme “Building a Europe for and with children”, adopted following the Third Summit and launched by the Monaco Conference (4-5 April 2006). 11. This Convention, not yet in force but open for signature, contains preventive measures to be implemented by each State party, such as policies or strategies to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation of children, as well as information about these phenomena, their effects, their consequences and how best to combat them. Minimum standards for protective measures for children victims of these offences are also part of the Convention, such as to allow them to receive the best possible support, protection and assistance. Specialized authorities are to be set up at the local and national level to ensure effective prevention and protection measures against these offences. Finally, a chapter dedicated to substantive criminal law enacts minimum legal standards that criminalizes certain acts and is intended to harmonize the penal laws of the parties to the Convention and to avoid committing acts or be prosecuted in a State which would have more lenient rules. Provisions to promote international cooperation, in particular extradition and mutual legal assistance are also contained in the Convention. 12. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the adoption of this Convention and urges member States of the Council of Europe to ensure prompt signature and ratification, so as to allow this Convention to come into force as soon as possible. Together with the Convention on Action against Trafficking of Human Beings of 2005, which aims to prevent all forms of trafficking and