A/HRC/16/54 3. League of Arab States and its Steering Committee on Violence against Children 52. The Special Representative has further strengthened her cooperation with LAS and its Steering Committee on Violence against Children. The Committee was established to coordinate efforts and review progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study, promote a comprehensive regional study to capture national developments aiming at the prevention and elimination of violence against children, and identify areas where the process of national follow-up could be further enhanced. Law reform was one such area, and a technical workshop was held to advance progress in the region on the introduction of a national legal ban on all forms of violence. 53. The LAS study provides a strong foundation to inform legal and policy reforms, and to support institutional developments on violence against children. Its preliminary findings were presented during a high-level meeting, hosted in June 2010 by the Government of Lebanon, and subsequently submitted to the Fourth High-level Arab Conference on the Rights of the Child, hosted by the Government of Morocco, in December 2010. The findings also informed the Marrakesh Declaration, adopted on that occasion, calling for the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study, in close cooperation with the Special Representative and UNICEF, and highlighting key areas of concern, including the development of national strategies to combat violence against children, the establishment of a national follow-up and reporting mechanism, the enactment of legislation to protect children from violence, neglect, ill-treatment and exploitation, the provision of services to support victims, and measures to combat impunity. 4. South Asian Initiative to End Violence against Children 54. The Special Representative has established a firm institutional collaboration with the South Asian Initiative to End Violence against Children, having participated in the first meeting of its Governing Board as well as in the technical workshop on law reform, both held in Kathmandu in November 2010. The meetings reflected on significant national developments and prevailing challenges and were aimed at strengthening regional cooperation in the elimination of violence against children. They also provided an opportunity to review opportunities for the introduction of a legal ban on all forms of violence against children. 55. The Initiative was formed in 2010 to guide the process of national implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study. Its strategic plan for 2010–2015 includes time-bound targets to help to monitor periodic progress achieved. This process is overseen by the Governing Body, comprising national coordinators representing the eight Governments in the region, and with leading coordinating responsibilities at the national level, two representatives from civil society organizations and two representatives from the Regional Child Participation Network.15 The process under way aiming at the institutionalization of the collaboration with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation will open avenues to further strengthen the protection of children from violence in the region. 56. The Special Representative’s cooperation with the Initiative provided a strategic occasion to strengthen cooperation with critical partners in South Asia, including the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, national governments, United Nations agencies and international and national civil society organizations, as well as with community-based organizations and children’s advocates on violence against children. It 15 14 The South Asia Coordinating Group on Action against Women and Children, which includes United Nations agencies and international and regional non-governmental organizations, participates in the Governing Body through its Chairperson. GE.11-11445