A/HRC/19/64 Convention on the Rights of the Child and is an opportunity for religious leaders and faithbased institutions to join hands with governments and inter-governmental organizations, civil society – including parents, teachers and young people – to promote the child‘s physical, social, psychological and spiritual development. 96. From 2011 and over three years, the World Day is devoted to ending violence against children. In 2011, World Day partners, including UNICEF, organized 85 activities in 70 countries in commemoration of the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children. For instance, in the Dominican Republic over 70 faith-based organizations and child rights advocates gathered behind an Interreligious Declaration calling for enhanced efforts to implement the recommendations of the Study and highlighting religious leaders commitment to promote non-violence, the protection of children from violence in their communities, and non-violent discipline within the home. The Declaration was officially presented to the Special Representative in the framework of the Central American regional meeting on Violence against Children, held in Santo Domingo on 2 December 2011. 97. The Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, the Churches‘ Network for Non-Violence and Save the Children Sweden in 2011 published a valuable handbook to help those working with and within religious communities to harness faithbased support for reform to end corporal punishment of children. The handbook, entitled ―Ending corporal punishment of children: A handbook for working with and within religious communities‖, contains valuable examples of faith-based initiatives and resources for engaging with religious leaders and organizations and developing multi-religious support and partnership at every level. Cooperation with young people 98. Child participation is a core dimension of the Special Representative‘s mandate. Cooperation and meetings with children and young people take place regularly, including during the Special Representative‘s regional initiatives and field missions, and the childfriendly space on her website continues to be further developed. 99. As noted above, the Global Survey launched by the Special Representative is being conducted with the involvement of children. In support of this process, a child-friendly version of the survey has been developed in close cooperation with civil society partners, and a number of consultations are being held at the regional level with young people. Children’s consultation in South Asia on the Global Survey A regional Children‘s Consultation was held in Kathmandu in September 2011, to discuss the global survey. Child representatives from eight South Asian countries acknowledged positive developments but recommended the further strengthening of the role of Governments. They called for increased awareness-raising programmes, in particular at the community level, the promotion of good parenting skills, and the prohibition by law of all forms of violence against children. They recognized the importance of promoting child participation and establishing child clubs and youth consultations forums to promote awareness about violence against children. Children recommended that child helplines be made available to all children, and that child protection services be provided with an adequate number of trained professionals. School counsellors and police desks for women and children were identified as good practices. Children also called for special training for teachers on non-violent teaching methods, in addition to strict regulations prohibiting the use of violence in education. 20

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