A/HRC/40/49 A. Collecting, assessing and disseminating best practices and lessons learned 36. During the reporting period, the Special Representative started compiling comprehensive best practices derived from over 20 years of existence of the children and armed conflict mandate. She focused on the inclusion of child protection concerns in peace processes, the prevention of child recruitment and use and the role of action plans in ending and preventing grave violations against children in armed conflict. 37. Understanding how peace processes can best be leveraged to advance child protection issues is crucial to adequately addressing child protection concerns and securing commitments from parties to conflict. In that context, and as encouraged by the Security Council in a presidential statement (S/PRST/2017/21) and welcomed in resolution 2427 (2018), the Office of the Special Representative started a consultative process with child protection and mediation actors to develop practical guidance on the integration of child protection issues in peace processes. The documentation and analysis of experiences in integrating child protection issues in peace processes garnered by the Office of the Special Representative and other child protection and mediation actors over the course of the past years will be an important starting point for the development of such guidance. The first phase of the project, led in collaboration with the Department of Political Affairs, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and UNICEF, consisted of an assessment of needs and knowledge gaps within the mediation and child protection communities. Consultations were held at expert level to identify a list of key issues to be included in the guidance. The information collected through this initiative will be compiled and published by the end of 2019. 38. Child recruitment and use by parties to conflict contributes to fuelling conflicts. Children who are not adequately reintegrated, once separated from parties to conflict, are vulnerable to recruitment or re-recruitment by armed groups and forces or criminal gangs. Preventing recruitment and re-recruitment of children is critical for breaking cycles of violence and achieving sustainable peace. To foster an exchange of best practices and lessons learned in preventing child recruitment and use, the Office of the Special Representative co-organized with the Government of Colombia, the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Colombia, UNICEF and the International Organization for Migration a conference in Colombia in May 2018. Child recruitment prevention strategies, the reintegration of children in post-conflict situations and child participation in transitional justice were discussed by a broad range of international experts sharing their experiences from Nepal, Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone. 39. Action plans are the central tool of the Special Representative and other United Nations child protection actors for engaging with parties to conflict to end and prevent grave violations against children. In May 2018, the Office of the Special Representative supported the organization of an Arria formula meeting for Security Council members on the theme of “Ending and preventing grave violations against children through action plans: best practices from African States”. The meeting was spearheaded by the Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Côte d’Ivoire, France and Sweden. It provided a forum for a discussion of the role of action plans in ending and preventing violations against children affected by armed conflict, with a specific focus on African examples. Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Sudan shared their respective experiences of implementing action plans and reflected on successes and challenges, as well as on lessons learned and best practices. Member States emphasized that action plans were not only a tool leading potentially to a delisting, if fully implemented, but also for inducing sustainable institutional and behavioural changes. They encouraged the Member States concerned to put in place measures that would contribute to the creation of child protection frameworks that would prevent future grave violations. 40. To discuss trends, challenges and best practices in responding to grave violations against children affected by armed conflict, in cooperation with UNICEF the Special Representative launched a series of regional workshops bringing together members of different United Nations country task forces on monitoring and reporting. The workshops 11