A/67/256 provided United Nations colleagues in the field and parties to conflict with technical support and guidance for the preparation and implementation of action plans. A growing concern is the number of persistent perpetrators of grave violations against children. Currently, 32 parties to conflict have been listed by the Secretary-General for at least five years and are therefore considered persistent perpetrators. C. Good practices in monitoring and reporting 18. In an effort to capture good practices and facilitate knowledge-sharing between United Nations teams implementing the monitoring and reporting mechanism on grave violations against children established in accordance with Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), the Office of the Special Representative worked with UNICEF, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs to conduct a joint global study, focusing on experiences in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, while also gathering information from further afield on experiences in implementing the mechanism. The good practices documented in the study may be replicable in other country contexts, with the overall aim of continuing to strengthen and improve monitoring and reporting activities. 19. Key findings in the study include: (a) Broad participation and ownership by the United Nations organizations operating in the country is fundamental in maximizing the potential of the mechanism; (b) The impact of the mechanism is maximized when a clear Government counterpart is defined and a Government focal point appointed; (c) In country situations in which there was significant engagement by the senior management, in particular the head of mission, the resident/humanitarian coordinator and/or the UNICEF representative, the effectiveness of the mechanism increased, facilitating productive dialogue with parties to conflict; (d) Each United Nations entity has unique technical expertise and advocacy, monitoring and programmatic capacity. Broader participation of United Nations entities ensures better monitoring, reporting and response for victims of grave violations; (e) Integrating child protection concerns into peace agreements and structures helps in engaging parties to conflict; (f) Sharing information collected through the mechanism with broader human rights actors contributes to increasing the accountability of parties to conflict; (g) Systems to manage information on grave violations help to identify vulnerable locations and thus devise preventive actions; (h) It is crucial for the peace mission and United Nations entities who are members of the mechanism’s country task force to receive dedicated resources for child protection, for staffing and to support child victims, if they are to deliver on the child protection mandate; 6 12-45308