A/65/262 66. Collaboration with special procedures of the Human Rights Council has been equally important. The Special Representative participated in their annual meetings in 2009 and 2010, which were particularly useful for information-sharing, for the identification of good practices and the cross-fertilization of experiences, and for the identification of mutually supportive activities for violence prevention and elimination. 67. The joint statement issued on 2 March 2010 by the Special Representative and other relevant mandate holders in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, voicing concern at the serious risks faced by unaccompanied and separated children to being abducted, enslaved, sold or trafficked, confirms the potential for this close collaboration. 68. As a cross-cutting issue, working to eliminate violence against children opens up avenues for developing partnerships across mandates, including child-related mandates, in particular with the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, with whom collaboration has been steadily strengthened and, as mentioned above (see para. 50), a joint report is being developed on child-sensitive counselling, complaint and reporting mechanisms. Cooperation is also valuable with violence-related mandates, including violence against women and torture; with economic, social and cultural rights-related mandates to help address the root causes of violence; as well as with mandates on the rights to education, freedom of opinion and expression to enhance violence prevention, consolidate a culture of respect for children’s rights and empower children and young people. C. Cooperation with civil society, including children and young people 69. The United Nations study was developed with strong support from civil society organizations and from children and young people, and they remain active partners in the process of implementation of the study’s recommendations. 70. The collaboration with civil society has been critical and also facilitated by the establishment, in 2007, of the NGO Advisory Council. The Council has equal representation from leading international organizations and national and regional NGOs. Its primary aim is to encourage and maintain NGO involvement at national, regional and international levels, in advocacy with governments, United Nations agencies and other stakeholders for full implementation of the study’s recommendations. 71. The Special Representative met with the NGO Advisory Council in early October 2009 in New York, and in March 2010 in Geneva. The meetings helped to shed light on strategic areas where progress can be achieved and to identify significant opportunities for cooperation in the follow-up to the study’s recommendations at the global, regional and national levels, and across the various settings within which violence against children takes place. These areas and opportunities include the adoption of national plans of action to advance implementation of the study’s recommendations, the legal prohibition of all forms of violence against children in all settings, the collection and dissemination of age and gender disaggregated data on violence against children, and the establishment of effective and accessible complaint mechanisms for children. The meetings also 14 10-47898