A/69/264 to guide work in this area, addressing the safety of children and preventing the risk of harm, abuse or exploitation. The ITU/UNICEF Guidelines for Industry on Child Protection Online constitute a sound reference to promote the positive use of the Internet and mechanisms for reporting and grievance; and to encourage safe and age-appropriate awareness and education for children, parents and teachers. In this area, significant self-regulatory initiatives have equally gained ground. Similarly, strategic platforms such as the Global Child Forum periodically gather leading corporations to promote children’s rights and enhance online safety for children. 119. Nevertheless, more consistent protection tools are needed, including to address child sexual abuse material and harmful content to children, age verification and guidance on child safety addressed to children and parents. With this aim, a CEO Coalition of leading companies was launched in 2011 to promote a better and safer Internet for children. 120. Promising as these developments may be, in such a fast-changing universe it remains essential to pursue the effective implementation, periodic evaluation and further improvement of this framework, both to secure children’s safety and to seize the potential of the digital world. Building upon States’ accountability to secure children’s online protection 121. Governments have a leading responsibility in the realization of children’s rights. This includes violence prevention and children’s online protection. 122. Capitalizing on the significant process of implementation of the recommendations of the study on violence against children, the children’s digital agenda should be integrated as a core component of the national comprehensive, well-coordinated and well-resourced policy framework to prevent and address all forms of violence against children. As highlighted above, to be effective this agenda requires the involvement of all stakeholders and must be informed by the views and experiences of children and young people online, including those exposed to abuse. 123. National legislation is a core component of this process. Indeed, legislation is indispensable to enable children’s access to the Internet and ICTs and enjoyment of digital literacy without discrimination of any kind. The law is also crucial to ban all forms of violence in all settings, including cyberspace. It secures children’s protection, providing for effective remedies, recovery and reintegration to address online harm, abuse or exploitation; and it establishes child -sensitive counselling, reporting and complaint mechanisms and procedures, as well as mechanisms to fight impunity. 124. Although it is flexible in order to avoid constant updating, legislation needs convey a clear message of prohibition of all manifestations of violence; it needs address loopholes associated with emerging concerns, including new forms online abuse such as grooming, and develop procedures in criminal proceedings facilitate investigation and prosecution. to to of to 125. The accountability of States is equally important to set a clear regulatory framework for the activities of corporations and to support businesses to meet their responsibilities in the safeguard of children’s rights, throughout their operations, at home and abroad. 22/23 14-58801