A/66/227 children: from isolated actions to integrated strategies”, held in Kiev during the Ukrainian chairmanship of the Council. 102. The conference addressed critical issues for the Central and Eastern European region, including strengthening violence prevention through the revision of national childcare standards and policies; providing family-friendly services to prevent violence and the separation of children from their families as a result of violent behaviour; promoting child-friendly counselling, reporting, complaint and referral systems and mechanisms within institutions hosting children; and developing comprehensive reintegration and rehabilitation programmes for child victims, witnesses and perpetrators of violence. 103. Participating countries reaffirmed their strong commitment to implementing the Council of Europe Policy Guidelines on integrated national strategies for the protection of children from violence, including through national action plans, policies and programmes in line with international and regional children’s-rights standards. Strong commitments were made to the legal protection of children and the prohibition of all forms of violence against them; the establishment of an influential and well-resourced coordinating body to articulate all relevant actions in this area; and the development of widely available and accessible counselling, reporting and complaint mechanisms to address incidents of violence. The Kiev agenda will be pursued to consolidate the follow-up to the recommendations of the study. European Union 104. In 2007, with a view to advancing the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study on violence against children, the European Union adopted its Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child, which include a strategy for combating violence against children. The Guidelines provide a strong basis for collaboration with the European Union and for the implementation of the study’s recommendations. 105. In 2011, the European Union Agenda for the Rights of the Child reaffirmed the commitment to advancing the implementation of the Guidelines, stressing that “the well-being of children can only be achieved in a society which is free of violence, abuse and exploitation of children”. 9 These key instruments provide a sound basis for consolidating support for the implementation of the study’s recommendations in countries across regions. C. Cooperation with civil society, including children and young people 106. Collaboration with civil society actors is critical for advancing the implementation of the recommendations of the study, through their association with regional processes, their involvement in expert discussions on critical dimensions of the agenda, and their support for the global universal ratification campaign, the scaling-up of legal reform, the participation of children and the prevention of violence in schools, institutions and the home. Collaboration has been greatly facilitated by the establishment of the non-governmental organization Advisory __________________ 9 11-44118 See European Commission document COM(2011) 60 of 15 February 2011, para. 2.2. 21

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