A/HRC/13/46 25. UNICEF is engaged in a number of initiatives to strengthen the evidence base concerning the nature and scope of violence against children, and consolidate efforts for the collection of reliable data and the development of research on violence against children, including on harmful practices. UNICEF launched in October 2009 a new publication, Progress for Children: a Report Card on Child Protection,3 which gathers significant data on a range of areas on violence against children, helping to overcome the invisibility of children’s suffering and better inform policies and actions to prevent and combat violence. The Special Representative was associated with the dissemination of this important report which addresses a priority dimension of her mandate. 26. Sexual violence against children, and particularly against girls, has been a topic which has received increased attention. Building upon a national study on violence against children undertaken in Swaziland in 2007 and supported by the Clinton Global Initiative, UNICEF has joined WHO, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Development Fund for Women, together with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a strong partnership to promote similar research in other countries and provide support for the strengthening of an environment protecting girls against sexual violence. This is a significant initiative that the Special Representative will continue to follow closely and which is expected to lead to important results in violence prevention and protection from violence. 27. OHCHR plays a decisive role in the process of implementation of the United Nations study’s recommendations and its advice and support have continued to be critical during the initial phase of the Special Representative’s mandate. Since 2007, OHCHR has established a focal point on violence against children in order to provide support to the follow-up to the study. Since the appointment of the Special Representative, OHCHR has continued to provide substantive support to her mandate. The Office helps ensure that the theme of violence against children is mainstreamed across the organization and given specific attention at all levels. 28. OHCHR supported the organization in Geneva of the Special Representative’s meetings with members of the Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence against Children, with human rights treaty bodies, in particular the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and with special procedures of the Human Rights Council.4 The Office also assisted in the organization of meetings with members of the NGO Advisory Council and other civil society partners. 29. At the invitation of OHCHR, the Special Representative participated in December 2009 in the Human Rights Council’s open-ended working group on an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to provide a communications procedure. In her contribution, the Special Representative recalled the recommendations of the United Nations study, in particular the call it had made for the establishment of effective and independent complaints, investigation and enforcement mechanisms to deal with cases of violence and emphasized the relevance of a communications procedure for the protection of children from all forms of violence. 30. Cooperation with OHCHR will remain high on the Special Representative’s agenda and critical for consolidating the human rights foundation of her mandate and advancing the implementation of the agenda on violence against children. 31. WHO was an active supporter of the development of the United Nations study and remains a critical partner in the process of follow-up. The organization’s contribution to the 3 4 GE.10-10640 UNICEF, Progress for Children: a Report Card on Child Protection (UNICEF, 2009). For further information, see paragraphs 40–41 below. 9