A/HRC/4/43 page 11 Mandate-holders warmly thanked representatives of the civil society for the fruitful suggestions brought forward during the debate. In response to such suggestions some mandate-holders stressed that there was a need to work together to ensure that United Nations reform and the review of mandates would result in a strengthened special procedures system. To this end the desirability of more regular consultations was flagged. 45. Mandate-holders also referred to their efforts to strengthen their methods of work and emphasized that they welcomed constructive criticism from civil society partners. Representatives of civil society were informed that mandate-holders would soon make a call for comments on their revised Manual. One mandate-holder invited NGOs to work together and in a holistic manner on issues such as the reform and the role of special procedures and civil society within the Human Rights Council. NGOs were repeatedly invited to assist mandate-holders in disseminating their reports and findings. Some mandate-holders proposed to formulate a comprehensive position paper addressing the role of special procedures within the Council and addressing all the issues mentioned by participants in this exchange. VI. PRESENTATION BY THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT 46. Under this agenda item, participants were briefed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, on the activities of her mandate and discussed possible avenues of cooperation and mutual support. 47. The Special Representative reported that the mandate was created in 1997 by the General Assembly to look at the impact of armed conflict on children. The mandate reports to the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly and the Security Council. The Special Representative reported that, according to available statistics, some 300,000 minors were being exploited as child soldiers in 30 areas of conflict around the world, while 10 per cent of world armed forces continued to be children. The International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute provides for the prosecution for acts of forced recruitment and the Special Representative’s Office is cooperating with ICC on a number of prosecutions. 48. The Special Representative referred to Security Council resolution 1539 (2004) listing grave violations against children during armed conflicts: the recruitment and use of child soldiers by parties to armed conflicts; killing and maiming of children; rape and other sexual violence mostly committed against girls; abduction and forced displacement; denial of humanitarian access to children; attacks against schools and hospitals; and trafficking, forced labour and all forms of slavery. The resolution also provides for the Secretary-General’s report to contain two lists, those of parties to conflict engaged in recruitment of children that are in the Security Council agenda and those that are not. The resolution also provides for the possibility to move towards punitive actions, including targeted sanctions, if these parties do not conform. 49. Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) further set up a monitoring and reporting mechanism. In each of the countries where parties are listed, there is a task force chaired by UNICEF or OHCHR collecting information on violations against children in the context of armed conflicts. It includes also NGOs and NHRIs. The information can then be channelled