A/HRC/9/3 page 13 OHCHR within peacekeeping operations and country missions has been noted. In particular, the key role played by OHCHR in Uganda and Nepal, as co-chairs of the country task force on monitoring and reporting, to monitor and report on child rights violations within the framework of Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), is commendable. Over the past year, the enhanced cooperation between the Office of the Special Representative and OHCHR has resulted in greater complementary efforts for the protection of children on the ground, and is a factor contributing to compliance by parties, including their engagement in plans of action to halt and prevent the recruitment and use of children. The Office of the Special Representative would like to continue to strengthen its strategic partnership with OHCHR by encouraging its further involvement in the protection of the rights of children in armed conflict, particularly in its dialogue and engagement with Member States, and by increasing its child rights expertise in peace operations, in a framework of coordination and cooperation with other child protection actors in such settings, as well as including a senior-level focal point for children and armed conflict in Geneva. 41. The Office of the Special Representative is encouraged by the practice of a number of special rapporteurs of including a section on children and armed conflict in their reports, and by their proactive advocacy for child rights protection. The Special Representative continues to encourage special rapporteurs to bring issues of concern to her attention. 42. The Office of the Special Representative will continue to share information on the status of the protection of children affected by armed conflict in specific country situations ahead of country reviews. The concluding observations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the country reports on the implementation of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, as well as on those submitted in relation to the Convention itself which address the issue of children and armed conflict, will constitute a basis for continued advocacy by the Office. 43. The Office of the Special Representative will also continue to encourage Member States to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and to promote further international collaboration to strengthen national capacities, including enactment of legislation consistent with the Optional Protocol. VI. RECOMMENDATIONS 44. The Special Representative reiterates the recommendations already made in the present report. 45. The Special Representative calls on the Human Rights Council and the wider human rights community to continue to make systematic use of Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) as an advocacy tool in their activities, in particular the monitoring and reporting mechanism on grave violations against children in armed conflict. She further calls on the Human Rights Council to make combating grave violations against children an integral part of its agenda, including by mainstreaming the issues concerned throughout the work of the Council and in the submissions of its thematic and country mechanisms, as well as in the universal periodic review.