A/HRC/25/47 (c) Placing children’s protection from violence at the centre of the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015; (d) Enhancing awareness and consolidating knowledge to strengthen children’s protection from violence, with a special focus on promoting restorative justice for children. A. Strengthening the human rights foundation of children’s freedom from violence 1. Campaign for the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child 6. Children’s freedom from violence is a fundamental human right recognized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, and addressed by other important international legal standards. The ratification and effective implementation of these treaties constitutes a crucial step in promoting the prevention and elimination of violence and protecting children from all forms of violence. 7. The campaign for the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, launched by the Secretary-General in 2010, has been a major initiative in this area and has led to consolidated progress over the past year. In 2013, the United Nations Treaty Event, held during the high-level segment of the General Assembly, marked a critical stage in this process, with its prominent emphasis on the rights of the child. 8. Since the launch of the campaign, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography has received 29 additional ratifications and is currently in force in 166 countries. Of the 27 States not yet party to the Optional Protocol, the majority have made formal commitments to its ratification in the framework of the universal periodic review process of the Human Rights Council, and before the Committee on the Rights of the Child and other human rights mechanisms. 9. For its part, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure was opened for signature in February 2012 and, by December 2013, had been signed by 44 States and ratified by 9. Its entry into force is fast approaching.1 10. To promote the implementation of the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure, domestic remedies and child-sensitive procedures and mechanisms need to be in place, to ensure respect for the views and the best interests of the child, to protect children’s privacy and to prevent the risk of ill-treatment or intimidation. Wide public information and education campaigns and capacity-building for professionals working with and for children are crucial steps to make the provisions of the Optional Protocol widely known and to facilitate access to relevant information by all those concerned, including children. 11. A real difference in implementation will depend on how well children understand and make effective use of the provisions of these treaties. For this reason, the Special Representative launched in the fall of 2013 two child-friendly publications on these two Optional Protocols.2 These user-friendly publications were developed in collaboration with 1 2 4 See http://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11d&chapter=4&lang=en. Raising Understanding among Children and Young People on the OPSC, available from http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/sites/default/files/children_corner/RaisingUnderstanding_OPSC.pdf and Raising Understanding among Children and Young People on the OPCP, available from