A/65/262 practices, protection of children under occupation and in times of war, and poverty alleviation. 107. The Cairo Declaration provides an important platform for States members of OIC and civil society organizations to strengthen the protection of children from violence and support the further implementation of the study’s recommendations. With its specific call for the establishment of a children’s forum, it opens up avenues for children’s genuine contribution to this process, while helping to keep children duly informed of developments in this area. 6. Cooperation with the League of Arab States Sub-Committee on Violence against Children 108. The Special Representative participated in the high-level meeting of the League of Arab States, hosted in June 2010 by the Government of Lebanon. The meeting reviewed progress achieved by Arab nations in the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study with a view to strengthening the process of follow-up at the national level. 109. The meeting was framed by the findings of the League of Arab States regional study on violence against children, which is the first region-wide initiative on the follow-up to the study. With its analysis of national developments and identification of areas where further action is required, the study provides a foundation to inform legal and policy reforms, and support violence prevention initiatives. The study will be presented at the next Ministerial Meeting of the League of Arab States, at which time a follow-up agenda is expected to be endorsed. 110. Law reform had been one of the areas identified by the regional study as requiring further progress; for that reason, a technical workshop was held on the same occasion on this topic, with the support of Save the Children and the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children. Similar expert discussions are being promoted in other regions in support of the adoption of a legal ban on all forms of violence. 7. Cooperation with the African Union and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 111. At the end of November 2009, the Special Representative held important meetings in Addis Ababa with the Commissioner for Social Affairs of the African Union and the Chairperson of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, with a view to promoting collaboration in the protection of children from all forms of violence. Violence against children has been high on the policy agenda of the African region, including in the context of the implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; during the drafting of the study and when the Day of the African Child 2006 was devoted to this topic; and during the 2007 Second Pan-African Forum on Children and in “The Call for Accelerated Action to Make Africa Fit for Children”, adopted by the Forum. With the follow-up to the study, renewed opportunities exist to move this agenda forward. 112. The meetings held in Addis Ababa laid the ground for fruitful institutional collaboration, including for promoting initiatives to map out positive initiatives across the region and within States members of the African Union, supporting legislative reforms to prohibit all forms of violence, encouraging the development of 10-47898 21