A/68/274 2. Strengthening collaboration within the United Nations system 86. Institutional collaboration within the United Nations system, including among funds and programmes and the specialized agencies, and human rights treaty bodies and mechanisms, has been central for raising awareness and mobilizing global support for children’s protection from violence, and for mainstreaming this topic within United Nations activities. With mutually supportive mandates, connecting normative and operational organizations, all partners are united, based on a common human rights perspective, in their determination to build a violence-free world. 87. The promotion of children’s freedom from violence remained a priority for the Special Representative in United Nations intergovernmental forums. In 2013, she joined policy discussions in three important bodies: the Human Rights Council, at its annual day of discussion on the rights of the child, devoted to the right to health, including prevention of violence; the Commission on the Status of Women, with its important commitments to addressing violence against women and girls; and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which called for the drafting of model strategies and practical measures on violence against children in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice. These discussions were critical to further mainstreaming children’s protection from violence in the United Nations agenda. 88. Decisive steps were taken with the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral for Children and Armed Conflict and other United Nations partners in support of the universal ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The special focus of the 2013 United Nations Treaty Event in the General Assembly on the rights of the child has helped to further enhance this strategic collaboration. 89. The Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence against Children has remained a crucial institutional collaboration mechanism in support of the Special Representative’s mandate. The periodic meetings of the Working Group are a key forum for consultation, policy formulation and mainstreaming of violence against children within the United Nations agenda. Over the reporting period, this cooperation was of strategic relevance for the organization of the expert consultations on early childhood and on restorative justice for children. 90. The partnership with UNICEF has been further strengthened, both at Headquarters and in the field. UNICEF provided critical support to the Special Representative’s field missions, the organization of regional and expert consultations, and the promotion of the global survey on violence against children. 91. In November 2012, the Special Representative participated in the UNICEF conference on “A better way to protect all children: the theory and practice of child protection systems”, co-hosted with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Save the Children, and World Vision. The conference, held in New Delhi, brought together policymakers, academics and practitioners to review and consolidate lessons learned, explore new ideas and outline an agenda for the future, within which the protection of children from violence has a central place. 92. Cooperation with UNICEF was also pursued in support of the inclusion of children’s protection from violence in the post-2015 global development agenda. This is a priority for the Special Representative, who further reaffirmed this critical 22/26 13-41970