A/65/219 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted to the General Assembly pursuant to resolution 51/77 and subsequent resolutions on the rights of the child. It covers the period from August 2009 to August 2010. The report builds on the previous report of the Special Representative to the General Assembly (A/64/254) by outlining critical child protection themes in the context of the changing nature of conflict and its impact on children. It describes an overall situation in which children continue to be the victims of grave violations in situations of conflict around the world, and a prevailing climate of impunity with respect to perpetrators. 2. The Special Representative’s emphasis on field missions continues to be crucial in advancing the cause of children. The main purpose of the visits is to bear witness on the ground to the situation of children and to gain concrete child protection commitments from parties to conflict and facilitate their preparation of action plans to address violations. The Special Representative considers it essential to engage with national Governments to ensure that the United Nations is able to support more effectively the efforts of national institutions in the protection, reintegration and rehabilitation of children. In the reporting period, the Special Representative undertook field visits to the Sudan (November 2009), Nepal (December 2009), Afghanistan (February 2010) and Uganda (May 2010). In addition, retired Major General Patrick Cammaert visited Sri Lanka in December 2009 as a Special Envoy of the Special Representative. II. The changing nature of conflicts and emerging protection challenges 3. The 1996 Graça Machel study on the impact of armed conflict on children (A/51/306 and Add.1) and the 2007 10-year review of that study (see A/62/228) noted that the changing nature of conflict put children at a higher risk than ever before. Children have become more vulnerable to new tactics of war, including the blurring of lines between military and civilian targets, constriction of humanitarian space and access to affected populations, deliberate targeting of traditional safe havens and critical infrastructures such as educational institutions and medical facilities, and the rise of terrorism as well as counter-terrorism measures. Studies have also shown that armed conflicts hamper the achievement of the eight Millennium Development Goals, six of which promote the rights and well-being of children. Conflicts create an environment in which grave violations are committed against children and, by interrupting or slowing development, children are denied opportunities for a better future. Therefore, the changing nature of conflict and the impact on children continues to be an overarching framework of analysis for the agenda on children and armed conflict. A. Protection of children in the course of military operations 4. Protecting vulnerable populations, and especially children, should be paramount during military operations. New tactics of war, the absence of clear battlefields and increasingly numerous and diverse parties to conflict in terms of their composition, motivations and character have complicated matters. Moreover, 10-47421 3