A/HRC/18/38 National Army, the Afghan National Police, including the Afghan Local Police, and the National Directorate of Security. 44. In addition, the Government pledged to address issues of sexual violence against children by its security forces and of killing and maiming in contravention of international humanitarian law. 45. The Special Representative also met with high-level stakeholders and obtained commitments from the Ulema Shura (council of clerics), the High Peace Council, the International Security Assistance Force, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, donors and human rights actors to redouble their efforts to support the action plan. C. Philippines 46. During her visit to the Philippines from 2 to 9 April 2011, the Special Representative met with high-level representatives of the Government Peace Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP-NPA) to support the negotiation and development of an action plan with NDFP-NPA on the recruitment and use of children within its ranks. The NDFP representatives agreed to continue the talks and to start negotiations on the provisions of an action plan. 47. The Special Representative also followed up on the implementation of the action plan signed in August 2009 by the United Nations and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and advocated for better compliance measures and further commitment of the international community for the successful completion of the action plan. 48. The Special Representative also met with high-ranking officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to deepen ongoing dialogue and to address issues relating to children affected by armed conflict, as well as to advocate for the implementation of the specific recommendations of the Secretary-General and the Working Group of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict. VII. Towards universal ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict 49. The Special Representative continues to mobilize support for the signing and ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. The Special Representative held bilateral meetings with the majority of Member States that had not ratified the treaty and briefed several regional organizations on the matter. The Office provided technical guidance to Member States to facilitate the ratification process during a seminar on international treaty law and practice organized by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. The Office also created an online social networking presence of the campaign and conducted media outreach to promote broader awareness, information and support. 50. The Special Representative would like to reiterate her call upon States to establish 18 years as the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the armed forces when depositing their binding declaration (under article 3) upon ratification of the Optional Protocol. 51. There has been important progress since the launch of the two-year global campaign on ratification, “Zero Under 18”, in May 2010. Three Member States signed (the Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Iran (Islamic Republic of),); five ratified (Cyprus, Djibouti, GE.11-15092 11