A/69/212 protection of children in South Sudan during the operationalization phase of the ceasefire agreement. The Special Representative will continue to engage with the African Union to ensure effective collaboration and follow-up. League of Arab States 74. Since a number of situations included in the report of the Secretary -General on children and armed conflict are in the Arab region, the Special Representative continued to engage with the League of Arab States, in follow-up to her previous visit to the headquarters of the League in Cairo in 2012. During the reporting period, the Special Representative met with the Permanent Observer for the League of Arab States to the United Nations with the aim of identifying tools to further enhance cooperation with the League, in line with the twelfth United Nations League of Arab States general cooperation meeting held in Geneva in June. In July, the Special Representative conducted a briefing in New York for the permanent representatives to the United Nations of member States of the League on her mandate and on ways forward to enhance the engagement between her office and the League. The Special Representative and League, led by its office in New York, will seek to develop an agreement to facilitate collaboration and to develop a framework for action on the issue of children and armed confli ct within the broader work of League in contexts of armed conflict in Member States. European Union 75. The Special Representative continued to strengthen her partnership with the European Union. She emphasized the importance of fostering the implemen tation of the European Union Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict and the importance of the European Union utilizing all available tools for the benefit of children affected by armed conflict. Her office remained in close contact with the European Union on issues of advocacy, chiefly through the European External Action Service, where mainstreaming is well advanced. In June, for example, the Special Representative’s office, in conjunction with UNICEF and civil society organizations, conducted a training of European External Action Service staff in Brussels on child protection. The Special Representative and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, have also undertaken joint public advocacy on the rights of children in conflict. North Atlantic Treaty Organization 76. The Special Representative continued to engage with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), particularly with regard to the institutionalization of the organization’s child protection framework. The framework includes a practical child protection training regime for NATO soldiers and partners, and appropriate assistance for supporting the implementation of action plans in relevant NATO operations. Adoption of the outcome documents of the NATO summit held in Chicago, United States, in May 2012, which included specific references to children affected by armed conflict, was an important milestone in mainstreaming child protection concerns within NATO. The Office of the Special Representative continues to provide support to further develop NATO training on child protection, building on the previous development of web-based training launched in 2013 and other resources. The Special Representative looks forward to further stre ngthening 14-58528 17/18