A/HRC/40/50 96. Violence, fear and insecurity were also key concerns expressed by children affected by detention.24 These concerns were highlighted in consultations with adolescents deprived of liberty and with children whose parents were in detention, organized in Latin America by the Special Representative in cooperation with UNICEF and civil society partners. Their views are highly relevant to the global study on children deprived of liberty, requested by the General Assembly in its resolution 69/157. The Special Representative chairs the United Nations task force that provides system-wide support for the development of the global study. 97. The voices of children demanding an end to violence and marginalization is the most compelling and urgent reason for action. But even in the most desperate of situations, children reveal hope for a better world and determination to achieve lasting change. Across regions, young advocates join hands with national authorities, civil society and many other allies in raising awareness about the impact of violence, empowering young people to be the first line of protection from the risk of abuse and exploitation and inspiring many others to build a world where children can grow up respected and supported. 98. To better understand how child participation is evolving and how governments and other actors are helping to prevent, report and raise awareness of different forms of violence against children, the Office of the Special Representative undertook a review of case studies on child participation across different regions. The review included the U-Report conducted by the Special Representative in collaboration with UNICEF, where over 100,000 children from more than 20 countries shared their experiences and views on bullying, as a key contribution to the report of the Secretary-General on the topic.25 99. The case studies reviewed illustrate a shift in the paradigm around child participation: from “let’s hear what children have to say”, to one which enables children to identify problems, revisit approaches, inform decisions, and mobilize a range of partners – from decision makers to their own peers – to promote positive change. 100. As illustrated in the following examples, child participation is increasingly associated with the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). And the most successful processes gave children significant roles in identifying the greatest concerns and as leaders or designers of the initiatives. 101. In 2018, in Malaysia, the Government, United Nations agencies, civil society and the private sector launched a national campaign promoting kindness to tackle bullying in schools. #StandTogether Malaysia invited schools to suggest solutions developed through child-adult collaboration, and within one week students had submitted over 130 projects and 750 schools had taken action to promote kindness. 102. Manuals and toolkits were made available, both online and offline. ICTs were used to promote the campaign on social media, disseminate resources and collect real-time data. The online platforms were particularly useful in directly engaging with children and gathering evidence about how children related to bullying. 103. Through the UNICEF-supported U-Report initiative, thousands of young people had their say and more than two in three expressed concerns at violence in and around schools. Recognizing that “kindness is a responsibility that begins with each one of us”, children committed to being respectful and caring and to speaking up. They also committed to breaking the taboos and victimization around reporting violence, to seek out trusted authorities and to create child-led channels for reporting. Their recommendations included a call for accessible and reliable means of reporting cases of sexual harassment and assault.26 104. In Mexico, to ensure implementation of the 2014 law on children and adolescents, which includes child participation as a key dimension of its enforcement, the Government launched a nationwide online polling system to gather information from children 13 years 24 25 26 A/73/276, pp. 17–18. See A/71/213. See www.unicef.org/end-violence/youth-manifesto. 15