A/66/256 75. Cognizant of the primary responsibility of States in the protection of children, the Special Representative urges Member States to strengthen policies and practices that ensure prevention of violation and abuse and stands ready to facilitate the sharing of best practices between Member States in that regard. 76. The Special Representative reiterates her call for States to establish 18 years as the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the armed forces when depositing their binding declaration (under article 3) upon ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. 77. The Special Representative calls upon Member States to end impunity and to prosecute and punish those who commit grave violations against children during armed conflict. The international community should support Member States whenever appropriate by developing their capacity to deal with issues of justice during conflict situations. 78. Given the serious impact that military operations, particularly those involving aerial attacks, including by drone and helicopter, and night raids, have on children, the Special Representative welcomes efforts by multinational forces to adopt and implement tactical directives and standard operating procedures to minimize civilian casualties and destruction of civilian installations and urges all multinational forces and peacekeeping operations to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures be put in place, and the requisite training of military personnel conducted. 79. The Special Representative encourages Member States to apply juvenile justice standards and due process safeguards when bringing a child to trial and to avoid maintaining children in administrative or prolonged pretrial detention. Where possible, Member States should consider excluding children below 18 from criminal responsibility for crimes committed while associated with an armed force or an armed group, by virtue of their age, the chain of command and the forced nature of recruitment. Non-judicial, restorative accountability mechanisms that take the best interests of the child into consideration and promote their reintegration should be introduced. 80. Recognizing that sustainable, long-term social and economic reintegration is the cornerstone for the durable separation of children from parties to armed conflict, the Special Representative urges donors to provide sustained and longterm support to reintegration in line with the Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups, including in the areas of education, vocational training and income-generating activities, as appropriate, and to support the financial aspects of the implementation of actions plans to end the recruitment and use, killing and maiming of and sexual violence against children, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals. 81. The Special Representative encourages Member States to continue to support the mainstreaming of child protection in United Nations activities, both in field missions and at Headquarters, and to facilitate the timely deployment of child protection advisers in peacekeeping and peacebuilding, as appropriate, as well as the authorization of adequate resources for this purpose. 18 11-44370