A/66/227 continue to be exposed to violence, including verbal abuse, intimidation, physical aggression and, in some cases, sexual abuse. At times they are also victims of gang violence and assault. 52. Violence has a negative and often long-term impact on child victims. Beyond those directly affected, however, it creates fear and insecurity among students, hampering their learning opportunities and well-being. This in turn gives rise to anxiety and concerns in the family, sometimes fuelling pressure to keep children, particularly girls, out of school or to encourage school abandonment as a means of avoiding further violence. 53. Recognizing the crucial importance of education in safeguarding children’s rights and of violence-free schools as catalysts for non-violence in the communities that they serve, the Special Representative, in cooperation with the Government of Norway and the Council of Europe, organized an expert consultation on tackling violence in schools. The meeting was held in Oslo in June 2011, and brought together policymakers, education and children’s-rights experts, civil society organizations and academics from various regions of the world, as well as United Nations agencies. 54. The consultation was guided by international and regional human rights standards and the recommendations of the United Nations study on violence against children. The study highlights the fact that the most effective approaches to countering violence in schools are tailored to the specific circumstances of each school. These approaches also have key elements in common, as “they are based on the recognition that all children have equal rights to education in settings that are free of violence, and that one of the functions of education is to produce adults imbued with the non-violent values and practises”. 5 55. The Oslo consultation recognized the importance of preventing and responding to violence in schools through a multidimensional strategy. In particular, it recommended that the following five priority dimensions be taken into account: 1. (a) Promoting holistic, participatory and child-centred strategies; (b) Partnering with children; (c) Supporting teachers and staff with the necessary skills and resources; (d) Consolidating data and research in this field; (e) Ensuring the legal protection of children. Promoting holistic, participatory and child-centred strategies 56. Schools are an inherent part of the communities in which they are located; violence in the school mirrors social attitudes condoning violence and also reflects the environment surrounding the school, including social unrest, the availability of weapons and criminal gang activities. For this reason, efforts to bring an end to violence in school must not only invest in ensuring a safe and child-friendly environment in educational settings, but also seek to address the cultural acceptance of violence against children, and invest in violence prevention and positive discipline initiatives for families and the community at large. __________________ 5 12 World Report on Violence against Children, 2006, p. 138. 11-44118