A/HRC/31/19 development in the field of international justice during the past year. The Special Representative welcomes the finding of the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber in the Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo case that all victims are to be treated fairly and equally in reparations programmes, irrespective of whether they participated in the trial proceedings. Moreover, the Appeals Chamber confirmed the Trial Chamber’s decision that reparations should include measures to reintegrate former child soldiers in order to eradicate victimization, discrimination and stigmatization. In May 2015, the Office of the Special Representative contributed to the United Nations joint submission on reparations in that case. VII. Recommendations 65. The Special Representative commends the Human Rights Council, the treaty bodies, the special rapporteurs and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for their work in relation to children deprived of liberty and encourages continued focus on this issue, including in the framework of the universal periodic review. She encourages Member States to treat children associated with armed groups primarily as victims, to consider alternatives to deprivation of liberty and to ensure that, at a minimum, deprivation of liberty be used as a last resort and for the shortest time possible. 66. Recalling that the sustainable reintegration of children is crucial for allowing children formerly associated with armed groups to exercise their human rights, the Special Representative encourages Member States to provide appropriate resources to the reintegration of the children recruited and used by any party to a conflict, giving special attention to the needs of girls. 67. The Special Representative encourages the Human Rights Council to highlight the rights of children displaced by conflict and the obligations of States of origin, transit and destination, in its resolutions on country-specific situations and thematic issues and in the mandates of special procedure mandate holders and commissions of inquiry. 68. The Special Representative encourages Member States and the donor community to strengthen their support to national justice systems in conflict and postconflict situations by providing sufficient resources and technical capacity for investigating and prosecuting perpetrators of grave violations against children. 69. The Special Representative calls upon the Human Rights Council to ensure that special attention is paid to children affected by armed conflict in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals on quality education and healthy lives for all. In particular, it is important that the Council highlight the need to give adequate resources for education in emergencies occurring during times of armed conflict. 70. The Special Representative welcomes the recent ratifications of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and reiterates her call upon States who have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Convention and its Optional Protocols; to enact legislation to explicitly prohibit and criminalize the recruitment and use of children by armed forces or groups and the use of children in hostilities; and to establish the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the armed forces at 18 years, when depositing their binding declaration upon ratification of the Optional Protocol. 71. The Special Representative notes with appreciation the attention paid by the special procedure mandate holders and commissions of inquiry to child protection 17