A/HRC/31/20 C. Reinforcing regional processes for the protection of children from violence 29. Regional organizations and institutions are strategic allies in violence prevention and elimination initiatives. The institutionalized cooperation developed with the Special Representative has been instrumental in placing violence against children at the heart of the regional policy agenda to accelerate progress, enhance the accountability of States and support national implementation efforts. The Special Representative’s annual high-level cross-regional round table, which brings together regional organizations and institutions, has become a strategic forum for promoting policy dialogue, sharing knowledge and good practices, coordinating efforts and promoting synergies, identifying trends and pressing concerns and joining forces to accelerate progress in the protection of children from violence. 30. In the Latin America and the Caribbean region, building upon the road map on violence against children adopted in Asunción in 2011, the Permanent Commission of the Niñ@Sur Initiative of the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) agreed in July 2015 to develop a regional policy for the promotion of positive discipline and the prevention of violence. In November 2015, it decided to prepare a regional strategic plan to support implementation of the 2030 Agenda, with a special focus on target 16.2 and other violence-related targets. 31. In July 2015, the Caribbean Community Task Force on Child Rights and Child Protection developed a regional strategy on prevention and elimination of violence against Children for the period 2015-2020 as a follow-up to the regional road map on the protection of children from all forms of violence, adopted in Kingston in 2012, to reinforce the protection of children from physical, emotional, sexual and online-related violence. The regional strategy aims to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Caribbean region, with a particular emphasis on target 16.2. 32. The Central American Integration System initiated the drafting of a regional convention to address sexual violence against children, informed by the cross-regional cooperation process promoted by the Special Representative. 33. Cooperation with African nations, institutions and partners has been further pursued. In November 2015, on the occasion of the conference organized by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Special Representative joined the African Union, the African Child Policy Forum and UNICEF in the launch of The African Report on Violence against Children. The report presents a review of regional progress on the implementation of the recommendations of the study on violence against children, highlights the challenges, opportunities and priorities in achieving an Africa fit for its children and includes an agenda for action. Drawing on research and household surveys undertaken in the region, it provided a significant contribution to the development of the African Children’s Agenda for the next 25 years. The Children’s Agenda, one of whose core goals is ending violence against children, will provide significant impetus for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals targets related to the protection of children, especially target 16.2. 34. The First African Girls’ Summit on Ending Child Marriage was held in Lusaka in November 2015. Hosted by the African Union and the Government of Zambia, the summit gathered Heads of State and Government, ministers responsible for gender and children, United Nations agencies, development partners, civil society organizations and religious and traditional leaders as well as young people who have experienced child marriage. The participants took stock of the progress made to end child marriage across the continent, 8