A/HRC/13/46 guidelines and will collaborate with the Council of Europe in advancing implementation thereof. 7. Cooperation with the European Union 78. Violence against children is high in the policy agenda of the European Union and has been identified in a recent survey as a priority concern for young people within the 27 member States. The Special Representative participated in two high-level European Union conferences held under the Swedish Presidency of the European Union and devoted to the protection of children from violence, namely the European Union-NGO Forum on Human Rights and the high-level meeting of the Permanent Intergovernmental Group “L’Europe de l’Enfance”. 79. Key recommendations from the meetings call for a strong partnership to be established with the Special Representative and support to be given to her Office; in the recommendations, the need to pursue active implementation of the United Nations study’s recommendations is recognized, including legal reforms to prohibit all forms of violence, the promotion of research incorporating children’s own experiences and perspectives; the development of independent children’s rights institutions and the establishment of effective complaints mechanisms; and the use of development assistance programmes and funding mechanisms to support these efforts. The Special Representative also pursued discussions with the representatives of the European Union on the implementation of its 2007 Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child, which include a specific implementation strategy on violence against children that draws on the study’s recommendations. 80. With the recent entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon — which explicitly identifies children’s rights as a key dimension of the European Union’s agenda — the protection of children from violence is expected to gain increasing attention, opening up avenues for accelerated action in follow-up to the study. 8. Cooperation with policymakers, experts and researchers in support of an evidencebased agenda 81. One key overarching recommendation contained in the United Nations study highlights the importance of national improvements in child data systems and the development of a national research agenda to address violence against children. Violence against children is an area where available information is limited and difficult to gather, reflecting the tip of the iceberg and failing to capture the true scale and extent of this phenomenon in society. Overall, monitoring systems are weak, while research remains scattered and of widely differing quality. 82. To promote progress in this area, in November 2009 in Addis Ababa, the Special Representative participated in the Global Conference on Research and Child Rights organized by the Childwatch International Research Network, the African Child Policy Forum and the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, in cooperation with the Committee on the Rights of the Child. 83. The conference brought together an eminent group of government representatives, policymakers, experts and researchers committed to the protection of children’s rights through evidence-based analysis, advocacy and public policies. 84. Violence against children was high on the agenda of the conference. Discussions highlighted the role of sound data, analysis and research in supporting follow-up to the study. In particular, the relevance was highlighted of such discussions to the development of national comprehensive strategies and the promotion of legal reforms, the breaking of 18 GE.10-10640