A/67/256 2. Strengthening family and community protection mechanisms 43. Where State institutions are weak, prevention must begin at the community level. Establishing and strengthening community protection mechanisms and raising the awareness of families, communities and their leaders of the issue are other critical factors for prevention. Child protection and recruitment prevention policies are unlikely to work in contexts in which the community promotes the association of children with armed groups. Children are also most vulnerable to recruitment when family and community protection systems are weakened. In some contexts, children join armed groups because they are encouraged to do so by their families and/or communities. Abusive family environments can also propel children on to the streets, where they are more vulnerable to recruitment, or directly into the ranks of an armed group. In Colombia, for example, the decision of children, mainly girls, to run away and join an armed group has been found to be closely linked to domestic exploitation and physical and sexual abuse. 44. Communities can prevent the voluntary or forced association of children with armed forces and groups in several ways. Community-based child protection systems can warn of the threat of recruitment or rerecruitment. Where armed groups depend on the moral or material support of the community, community structures may be able to put pressure on local commanders to release children and provide support for their protection. Community figures such as elders, traditional and/or religious leaders can also reach non-State parties to promote child protection commitments and prevent recruitment. In Afghanistan, for example, elders have in some cases reached agreements with local commanders to impede the recruitment of children and to stop attacks on schools. Community-based child protection systems can also help to reduce the overall vulnerability of children and provide special protection to children living and working in the streets, orphans and separated children, who are at particular risk of recruitment. 45. Partnering with and building the capacity of local child protection systems requires a situation analysis of each country in order to identify the strengths of and gaps in child protection systems at both the national and community levels. Community-based child protection mechanisms have been found to be a highly diverse and adaptable approach to child protection in different contexts. In some situations, child protection mechanisms have sprung out of women’s associations and have been engaged in collecting information on violations of children’s rights and in protecting children at particular risk of recruitment. Other community-led protection networks spring up spontaneously or are fostered by non-governmental organizations working with the community. 46. Initiatives to raise community awareness about the rights of children and the long-term implications of children’s association with armed groups and to promote attitudinal change or encourage the intervention of community and religious leaders to halt child recruitment should be conducted in close collaboration with parents, community and religious leaders, teachers and children themselves. Dialogue to foster community ownership is crucial, as are consultations that aim at identifying and building on existing positive practices. 47. A common challenge is the creation of linkages between local, communitybased protection structures, on the one hand, and elements of the formal child protection system and Government services, on the other. Often, the existence of 12 12-45308