A/67/256 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 66/141 on the rights of the child, in which the Assembly requested the Special Representative to submit a report on the activities undertaken in the fulfilment of her mandate, including information on her field visits and on the progress achieved and the challenges remaining on the children and armed conflict agenda. The present report covers the period from August 2011 to August 2012 and provides an overview of progress made in the children and armed conflict agenda over the past year, including in achieving accountability for grave violations against children, and focuses on three thematic areas: the prevention of recruitment and use of children by armed forces and groups; the development of further cooperation with regional organizations on the children and armed conflict agenda; and the challenge posed by explosive weapons, in addition to possible avenues for tackling that challenge. The report ends with recommendations aimed at enhancing the protection of children affected by conflict. II. Overview of progress on the children and armed conflict agenda A. Efforts to combat impunity 2. Since the previous report of the Special Representative (A/66/256), two milestone verdicts — by the International Criminal Court and the Special Court for Sierra Leone — have pushed the boundaries of accountability for violations against children committed during armed conflict and established path-breaking jurisprudence on the war crime of recruitment and use of children. On 14 March 2012, the International Criminal Court delivered its verdict in The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Thomas Lubanga, a warlord who had operated in the Ituri region of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, was convicted of the crimes of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years into his armed group, the Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo, and of using them to participate actively in hostilities. On 26 April 2012, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes committed by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during the 1991-2002 civil war in Sierra Leone. 3. The two verdicts set important precedents. They send a powerful signal to perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity around the world that their acts will not go unpunished. Anecdotal evidence from child protection practitioners in the field suggests that both cases have not passed unnoticed: parties to conflict are cognizant of the cases and the implications for their own behaviour. Important international jurisprudence was established in both cases and is discussed below. In addition, in the context of the legal proceedings of these two courts, new practice is emerging, and concomitant lessons learned, in relation to the participation of children in legal proceedings as both victims and witnesses. The Special Representative hopes that these precedents will turn the tide against impunity, not only through international or hybrid courts, but also in the context of prosecution by national courts. 2 12-45308