A/HRC/37/47 be sought so that they benefit from services available to victims of trafficking and sale or even modern slavery, where applicable. 21. The principle of non-criminalization of victims of trafficking is also in line with the approach taken with respect to victims of grave violations. In resolution 2331 (2016), the Security Council emphasized that the United Nations should assist Member States, upon request, with identification of and assistance for victims of trafficking, including ensuring “that victims are treated as victims of crime and in line with domestic legislation not penalized or stigmatized for their involvement in any unlawful activities in which they have been compelled to engage.” That is clarified by the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking, which indicate that trafficked persons should not be criminalized for unlawful activities that they were involved in as a direct consequence of their situation as trafficked persons. That approach to victims of trafficking is coherent with the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups, which indicate that children who are accused of crimes under international law allegedly committed while they were associated with armed forces or armed groups should be considered primarily as victims of offences against international law. Those are reinforcing assertions that children should be treated as victims of violations and that criminal proceedings should be avoided for such victims. 22. The Special Representative is encouraged by the advance that regional organizations have made in the non-criminalization of victims of trafficking. For example, article 26 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings states that: “Each Party shall … provide for the possibility of not imposing penalties on victims for their involvement in unlawful activities, to the extent that they have been compelled to do so.” Article 14 (7) of the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, stipulates that: “Each party shall … consider not holding victims of trafficking in persons criminally or administratively liable, for unlawful acts committed by them, if such acts are directly related to the acts of trafficking.” 23. As the Special Representative plans to work with regional and subregional organizations, as outlined above, the further enhancement of synergies to augment the response to the trafficking, sale and grave violations affecting children in armed conflict will be an important element. Working with regional and subregional organizations on the non-criminalization of victims of trafficking, sale and grave violations will be a crucial element. The Special Representative will work with United Nations partners, including the International Labour Organization, UNODC, the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, to further those aims and encourages the Human Rights Council to support these initiatives. C. Engagement with government forces 24. Following the formal conclusion of the campaign “Children, Not Soldiers”, which ended in 2016, the Office of the Special Representative continued to engage with government parties listed for the recruitment and use of children in the annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (A/72/361-S/2017/821). Drawing on the continuing momentum, political will, local ownership and international support to end and prevent the recruitment of children by national security forces in conflict situations, a number of the Governments listed worked to implement action plans to ensure children would not be part of their armed forces. 25. Since the first Government signed an action plan to end and prevent recruitment of children into the ranks of its armed forces in 2006, thousands of children have been released and reintegrated with the assistance of UNICEF, peacekeeping and political missions, and other United Nations entities and partner NGOs on the ground, and new recruitment has been prevented in many situations. Notably, in 2017, the Democratic Republic of the Congo met the benchmarks set out in the action plan to end and prevent the recruitment of children by its armed forces and was subsequently delisted for that violation 8