A/HRC/34/45 prevent the early and forced marriage of girls and to ensure their return to school to pursue their education. 77. Harmful practices such as these figured prominently at the Seventh International Policy Conference on the African Child, hosted by the African Child Policy Forum in Addis Ababa in November 2016. The conference highlighted the often fatal forms of violence affecting in particular marginalized and vulnerable children, including cases of infanticide, and attacks on children with albinism or those accused of witchcraft. With a solutions-oriented approach, the conference adopted a call to action to protect all children from violence, promote the implementation of policies and laws and mobilize for dialogue at all levels .18 78. The conference built on the successful discussions held in September 2016 during the launch of the African Partnership to End Violence against Children, 19 of which the Special Representative is a member. The Partnership was established to advance collective efforts to comprehensively address all forms of violence against children across the continent. It aims to facilitate the uptake of Africa’s Agenda for Children 2040 and the violence-related targets of the 2030 Agenda through collective programming and knowledge-building and -sharing. 79. The Special Representative will continue to enhance her collaboration with the African Union and support further efforts to advance the implementation of its Campaign to End Child Marriage. Significant progress has been made in this regard, including the recent adoption by the Government of Burkina Faso of a comprehensive national strategy on ending child marriage 2016-2025,20 and the joining of the campaign by the Governments of Cameroon, Liberia and Nigeria. Eighteen African countries have launched the Campaign and in November 2016, the Heads of State and Government of francophone countries adopted a resolution reaffirming their commitment to end all forms of violence against children, including such practices as child, early and forced marriages, and to advance the 2030 Agenda.21 80. While many challenges remain, the African continent has unique opportunities to build upon in 2017, including during the celebration of the Day of the African Child, which will be devoted to the theme “The Sustainable Development Goals for children in Africa: accelerating protection, empowerment and equal opportunity”. 81. In Latin America, the Special Representative joined the session of the MERCOSUR Permanent Commission of the Niñ@Sur Initiative devoted to the protection of children from violence and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Member States welcomed the High Time to End Violence against Children initiative, which is being mainstreamed into the regional strategy of follow-up to the United Nations study recommendations, and they reiterated the urgency of investing in violence prevention, including by addressing its root causes and overcoming attitudes and behaviour that condoned violence against children. 82. In the context of her collaboration with the MERCOSUR Permanent Commission of the Niñ@Sur Initiative and the Global Movement for Children, Latin America and the Caribbean section, the Special Representative organized with the Government of Uruguay a regional consultation with children on bullying and cyberbullying. Held in May in Montevideo, the consultation included young participants from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, 18 19 20 21 See www.africanchildinfo.net/ipc/files/SeventhIPC-Call-toAction.pdf. See http://africanchildforum.org/en/index.php/ en/?option=com_content&view=article&id=400&Itemid=364. See www.girlsnotbrides.org/resource-centre/national-action-plan-end-child-marriage-burkina-faso/. See www.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/som_xvi_decl_antananarivo.pdf. 17