A/HRC/19/64 sound evidence, Governments are empowered to make the right decisions at the right time. Unfortunately, many challenges prevail. Indeed, information on violence against children remains scarce and fragmented and, as a result, opportunities to consolidate children‘s protection and invest in violence prevention are equally constrained. 28. This is why the consolidation of research and of national data systems constitutes a priority for the mandate. The Special Representative will organize with the Government of Sweden an Expert Consultation on this topic. The consultation, to be held in May 2012, will provide a strategic platform to learn from and build upon significant initiatives promoted by strategic partners, including national Governments, United Nations agencies, international and regional organizations, academia, independent children‘s rights institutions and civil society organizations. 29. The meeting will aim at bridging efforts between statistical offices, research institutions and governmental departments responsible for children and violence-related activities, refining tools and methodologies to overcome knowledge gaps, and promoting evidence-based advocacy, policy and mobilization of resources. The consultation will be a forum to reflect on ethical approaches to take into account the experience and perceptions of violence by children in surveys and research. 30. A growing number of initiatives promoted around the world offer new opportunities to break the invisibility of violence and mobilize action and support towards its prevention and elimination. National surveys on violence against children conducted over the recent past constitute an important reference in this regard, particularly when – as was for instance the case in the United Republic of Tanzania5 and in the United States of America6 – these surveys were based on wide-scale interviews with children and young people. In both cases, the surveys provided a comprehensive, sound and frank picture of the incidence of physical, emotional and sexual violence against children, revealing its pervasive nature and also its frequent practice by people children know and trust – in the community, in the school and within the home. In both cases there was also recognition of the exposure of children to different and cumulative forms of violence, and to the serious and long-lasting trauma and distress. 31. The Tanzanian study was critical in assessing the extent to which social, health and justice services were being used by children affected by violence. Developed by a multisector task force, the study helped to capture the multidimensional nature of violence and the importance of well-coordinated and mutually supportive roles of governmental departments and civil society organizations in violence prevention and response. 32. The American survey addressed a wide range of situations where children are exposed to violence, from physical assault, sexual victimization and child maltreatment, to witnessing violence in the family and in the community, and enduring bullying, Internet victimization and dating violence It also considered the cumulative effects of children‘s exposure over time to various forms of violence, as well as across different age groups. With this far-reaching scope and the promotion of a comprehensive approach beyond individual types of violence, and across disciplines and services, the survey findings are 5 6 8 The Tanzanian study was conducted by a National Multi-Sector Task Force chaired by the Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children in cooperation with the Muhimbili University, the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/media/files/VIOLENCE_AGAINST_CHILDREN_IN_TANZANIA_REPORT .pdf. The US national survey on children‘s exposure to violence was sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and CDC; available from http://www.safestartcenter.org/pdf/childrens-exposure-to-violence.pdf.