A/HRC/18/38 Gabon, Malawi and Seychelles); and four acceded to the Optional Protocol (the Congo, Georgia, Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines). To date, the Optional Protocol has been ratified by 141 States; 21 countries have signed but not ratified, while 30 countries have neither signed nor ratified. 52. In order to accelerate the pace of ratification by the 51 remaining Member States, the Office of the Special Representative together with United Nations partners held a forum in New York on the occasion of the first anniversary of the campaign in May 2011. Moreover, the Office will organize a treaty-signing event during the high-level segment of the sixtysixth session of the General Assembly, in September 2011, where Member States will be able to demonstrate their commitment by signing, ratifying or acceding to the treaty. 53. Given the resource implications and reporting requirements that ratification and implementation entail, the Special Representative would like to encourage leadership by one or more countries that have already ratified the Optional Protocol to provide guidance and other forms of assistance to those willing to ratify. VIII. Conclusion and recommendations 54. The Special Representative expresses her appreciation for the strengthened collaboration between her Office and the United Nations human rights system, and reiterates her continued support, including through regular information-sharing and advocating for the protection of children affected by armed conflict. The Special Representative wishes to reiterate that, unless all parties to conflict adhere to their commitments, comply with their international obligations and are held accountable for non-compliance, there will be no improvement in the situation of children in armed conflict. To this end, the Special Representative makes the recommendations below. A. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict 55. The Special Representative encourages State parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to strengthen national and international measures for the prevention of recruitment of children into the armed forces or armed groups and their use in hostilities. In particular, those measures include signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict and enacting legislation that explicitly prohibits and criminalizes the recruitment of children into armed forces or groups and their use in hostilities; exercising extraterritorial jurisdiction in order to strengthen the international protection of children against recruitment; establishing mechanisms to identify children, including asylum-seeking and refugee children, who have been or may have been recruited or used in hostilities; providing such children with the necessary assistance, including psychological and psychological rehabilitation and social integration; and prohibiting the export of arms to countries where children are recruited or used in hostilities. 56. State parties to the Convention and to the Optional Protocol are called upon to implement the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and to submit timely reports to the Committee under the Optional Protocol. To this end, State parties are encouraged to establish effective inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms with a view to ensure comprehensive measures to prevent and protect children from offences under the Optional Protocol. 12 GE.11-15092