A/HRC/13/46 work, namely the adoption of an explicit national legal ban on all forms of violence against children, the development of a national strategy to prevent and respond to violence against children, and the consolidation of research and data systems in this area. The positive feedback received from Member States at such an early stage of the mandate was critical to shaping the work ahead and opened up avenues for a fruitful collaboration with Governments across regions. 55. During the General Assembly’s session, the Special Representative also participated in two high-level side events devoted to the gender dimension of violence against children and the participation of children in decision-making, respectively. The first event — a ministerial breakfast meeting jointly organized by the Governments of Brazil, the Netherlands and the United States of America and in which heads of United Nations agencies and ministerial representatives from a large number of countries participated — raised the importance of combating violence against girls as part of the international agenda, promoted international cooperation in this area and supported child and youth participation in the developing policies concerning girls. At the meeting, commitment to the Special Representative’s role was expressed and countries were encouraged to implement policies and programmes for the elimination of all violence against children, with a particular focus on girls. 56. The second event, an interactive panel on child participation, was organized by the Governments of Belize, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Uruguay, in cooperation with UNICEF, Plan International, Save the Children and War Child Holland. The meeting was informed by the active contribution of young people from Ghana, Honduras, Norway and the United States and moderated by Ishmael Beah, UNICEF Advocate for Children Affected by War. At the meeting, it was recalled that children and young people had made a critical contribution to the study and stressed that child participation continued to play an essential role in the process of follow-up and in support of the Special Representative’s mandate, particularly in support of awareness-raising activities, peer education and the promotion of child-sensitive counselling and reporting mechanisms. B. Cooperation with intergovernmental and regional organizations and institutions 57. Violence against children is gaining attention at the regional level. Regional cooperation helps to capitalize on the potential offered by States in each individual region, while promoting the development of strategies tailored to the national context and enhancing opportunities to mainstream universal values and shared commitments. 58. The widely participatory regional consultations organized in support of the study and the preparations for the Third World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children in Brazil were instrumental in generating interest in and commitment to the elimination of violence in its many forms. In some regions, a regional follow-up mechanism was set up to facilitate coordination of efforts and help to advance implementation of the study’s recommendations. Building upon these significant developments, the Special Representative gave particular attention to strengthening institutional collaboration with regional forums, helping promote information-sharing and cross-fertilization of experiences, scale up positive initiatives, encourage evidence-based approaches to overcome prevailing challenges and influence progress within and across regions. 59. With this aim, in the course of the initial months of her mandate, the Special Representative took part in strategic high-level regional conferences and promoted cooperation with regional institutions. Strengthening and expanding partnerships with regional organizations and institutions will remain a priority dimension of her mandate. 14 GE.10-10640