A/66/256 annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict. These encounters help identify areas requiring further advocacy, mainstreaming and/or increased cooperation and coordination. Through the country task forces, the Office of the Special Representative has continued to support field-based child protection efforts, including through the provision of technical support, as well as support for training, advocacy and fund-raising. 71. The close partnership between UNICEF and the Office of the Special Representative continued during the reporting period. This cooperation has been critical for the children and armed conflict agenda, at both the global and field levels, and technical coordination continues to bear fruit in terms of guidance for the field, the implementation of action plans and the strengthening of child protection capacities in the field. The Special Representative remains committed to advocating with donor countries to ensure that these action plans and reintegration programmes led by UNICEF receive the necessary attention in terms of long-term sustainable funding. 72. Regular coordination also takes place with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children on issues of common concern, including the joint campaign for the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 73. The Office of the Special Representative has continued to work closely with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict to advance preventive activities on sexual violence against children. This reporting period has seen increased collaboration at the technical level to ensure that the activities of the two offices complement each other. Members of staff of the Office of the Special Representative participated in a workshop organized by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations on this matter and engaged on an ongoing basis with the Office of the Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and UNICEF for the preparation of guidance on sexual violence for field missions and partners. It has been agreed that the Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict will take the lead on all matters related to sexual violence, including on obtaining commitments from parties to conflict where appropriate, and in close consultation with the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict for matters relating to children. In situations where there is no monitoring and reporting framework for the sexual violence in conflict agenda to take the lead, the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict will continue to advocate for the implementation of action plans on sexual violence against children. VI. Recommendations for the way forward 74. The Special Representative urges Member States, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes and NGOs to redouble efforts to implement the full range of protection and programmatic measures outlined in the recommendations of the 1996 Machel study and the 2007 10-year review of that study. In this regard, part two of the report of the Special Representative of 2007 (A/62/228), which included recommendations based on the findings of the 10-year review, is referenced. 11-44370 17