A/66/256 Council also strengthened its efforts on this matter. In July 2011, the Security Council adopted resolution 1998 (2011), expanding the listing in the annexes to the annual reports of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict to perpetrators of recurrent attacks against schools and recurrent attacks or threats of attacks against protected personnel in relation to such facilities. The Special Representative commends the focused attention of the General Assembly and the Security Council on the right of children to access education and urges Member States, together with other child protection partners, to implement the decisions of both bodies. D. Cross-border efforts to protect children affected by conflict 41. With the flow of civilians and combatants across borders, the regional aspects of conflicts have brought new challenges to the safety, security and protection of children. The activities across borders by armed groups such as the LRA, operating over vast stretches of the central African hinterland, have proven difficult to follow, and as a result the threat posed by them has been concomitantly difficult to contain. Two aspects are worthy of note with regard to the operational response to the challenges posed by cross-border threats. 42. First, there is a need to ensure a well-coordinated monitoring and reporting mechanism, which is able to pull the various country-specific strands of information together in order to develop a comprehensive view of the trends and patterns of violations perpetrated by armed groups. This is critical in order to ensure that appropriate practical measures are taken to protect civilians in affected areas. For instance, during the reporting period, with the support of the Office of the Special Representative, UNICEF enhanced its capacity to facilitate coordination and information-sharing on LRA between child protection teams in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sudan and Uganda. 43. Secondly, the reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups often involves a repatriation component, where the child, operating alongside the armed force or group on foreign soil, returns to his or her country of origin for reintegration into civilian life. In such cases, close contact and coordination between national authorities and child protection partners is essential. IV. Ending violations and abuses against children in conflict A. Root causes 44. Efforts to end violations and abuses against children during conflict must stem from a thorough understanding of the structural causes of conflict and the circumstances that give rise to these violations and abuses. Poverty, discrimination, environmental degradation, social and economic marginalization and inequity are some of the factors that create the conditions for children to be associated with armed forces or groups, forcibly or voluntarily. 45. Research has demonstrated a strong correlation between poverty and violent conflict, as well as between violent conflict and poor human development indicators. Millennium Development Goal indicators reveal that countries in 10 11-44370