A/HRC/25/46 or groups. To date, a total of 18 action plans have been or are currently being implemented by 20 parties,4 resulting in the release of thousands of children. Furthermore, all eight government security forces listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General’s twelfth annual report on children and armed conflict (A/67/845) have finalized, or are in the process of finalizing, formal commitments to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. This demonstrates the strong support and momentum for the United Nations fight to end this practice. 31. In an effort to reinforce engagement with concerned Governments and to mobilize support and resources, the Special Representative announced on 13 June 2013 the development of a strategy to promote the end of the recruitment and use of children by government forces listed in the annex to the Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflict, by 2016. To this end, the Office of the Special Representative and UNICEF are developing a global campaign in partnership with key United Nations entities, which aims at galvanizing the efforts of Member States, the United Nations system and donors, and identifies and develops targeted responses to support capacity gaps at the national level with a view towards full compliance by all eight Governments. 32. Currently, 46 non-State actors in 14 country situations5 have been listed as parties that recruit or use children, or perpetrate other grave violations against children. Out of these 46 armed groups, 28 have been listed for more than five consecutive years and are considered to be persistent perpetrators. 33. The Special Representative has engaged with a number of these non-State actors to end grave violations against children, and dialogue is currently under way in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen. Furthermore, seven non-State actors have finalized action plans with the United Nations in Côte d’Ivoire, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Engaging with non-State actors requires targeted and multidimensional strategies that are shaped by the specific political and military issues at stake and respond to the specific context of the conflict. 34. The Office of the Special Representative has prioritized dialogue with non-State actors who have shown a willingness to engage with the United Nations to end grave violations against children, and with those already engaged in peace processes. Engagement with non-State actors is conducted jointly with peacekeeping or political missions, UNICEF, and other concerned United Nations entities, with the full knowledge of the Government concerned. Challenges remain, however, including access restrictions due to security concerns, which limit the ability of the United Nations to systematically engage with non-State actors. VI. Field visits by the Special Representative 35. The Special Representative has continued to use field visits as one of her key advocacy tools to engage with Governments and non-State actors, foster constructive relations, and elicit commitments from parties to conflict to end grave violations against children. During the reporting period, the Special Representative travelled to Yemen (November 2012), the Syrian Arab Republic (December 2012) and Chad (May 2013), made a regional visit to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and Turkey (July 2013), and travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (November 2013), in order to assess first-hand the situations of children affected by armed conflict, to advocate for the end of 4 5 8 In Côte d’Ivoire, five parties signed two action plans. Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (A/67/845–S/2013/245).