A/66/227 B. Cooperation with intergovernmental and regional organizations and institutions 86. Collaboration with regional partners is a cornerstone of the Special Representative’s strategy for consolidating the implementation of the study’s recommendations within and across countries. In order to advance that process and institutionalize key alliances, the Special Representative participated in strategic, high-level regional meetings. She supported significant advocacy and policy initiatives and strengthened partnerships with regional institutions and organizations and with regional mechanisms established to support the follow-up to the study. This is an area where significant progress has been achieved. 8 87. First, important regional political commitments on violence against children have been undertaken, including in the context of the 2009 Cairo Declaration adopted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; the South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children; the Beijing Declaration on South-South Cooperation for Child Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region; the Marrakesh Declaration adopted at the Fourth High-level Arab Conference on the Rights of the Child; the road map on violence against children adopted by South American countries; the Council of Europe Strategy for 2009-2011, “Building a Europe for and with Children”; and the European Union Guidelines for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child, including the strategy on violence against children and the recently adopted Agenda for the Rights of the Child. 88. Second, there has been a growing institutionalization of regional governance structures and regional initiatives in support of the follow-up to the study’s recommendations. Leading regional institutions are playing a pivotal role in moving this agenda forward. These include the Subcommittee on Violence against Children of the League of Arab States, the Governing Board of the South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children, the Platform on Children’s Rights of the Council of Europe, the Permanent Commission of the Niñ@Sur Initiative of MERCOSUR, the Latin American and Caribbean chapter of the Global Movement for Children, the African Union Department of Social Affairs and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children 89. In South Asia, solid collaboration was established with the South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children, created in 2010 to guide the process of the national implementation of the recommendations of the study. The Initiative’s strategic plan for 2010-2015 includes time-bound targets to monitor the progress achieved and is reviewed annually by a governing body composed of representatives of South Asian Governments, civil society and children’s organizations. Asia-Pacific region 90. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Beijing Declaration adopted at the High-level Meeting on South-South Cooperation for Child Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region, held in November 2010, focused strongly on violence against children, calling for a systematic approach to child protection concerns, based on laws and policies __________________ 8 18 See also A/65/262, sect. C, and A/HRC/16/54, paras. 41-57. 11-44118