A/71/206 Violence against Children initiative to galvanize political will and mobilize wide social support and action towards the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action. 83. During the Special Representative’s mission to East Asia in June 2016, the Government of Viet Nam hosted a joint meeting of ASEAN senior officials of ministries of social welfare and development and the Commission, which will conduct an annual review of the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action based on reporting by ASEAN member States. The meeting helped to further advance national implementation of the Regional Plan of Action an d build upon the High Time to End Violence against Children initiative in raising awareness and spurring action towards ending violence against children in ASEAN member States. 84. Guided by the same concern of advancing national implementation of the Regional Plan of Action and global progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda, the Special Representative met with the East Asia and Pacific Regional Working Group on Child Protection, composed of United Nations entities and civil society organizations, and with senior officials of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of Thailand on enhancing knowledge on the protection of children’s rights, including freedom from violence. 85. As part of her commitment to strengthening child participation and engagement with children around the world, the Special Representative was a keynote speaker at the fourth ASEAN Children’s Forum, hosted by the Government of Viet Nam in June. 86. The ASEAN Children’s Forum provided a strategic platform for children from across ASEAN to reflect together on key concerns facing children and young people in the region and to propose recommendations to strengthen the protection of children from violence, secure online safety and fight trafficking. 87. In the open debate held with child representatives, the young participants at the ASEAN Children’s Forum stressed the urgency for action, especially in relation to the emerging threats posed by online abuse and cyberbullying, and reaffirmed their decisive role as agents of change to bring an end to violence. 88. In March 2016, the Special Representative participated as a keynote speaker in the high-level meeting of the South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children to review progress made and discuss the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the region. 9 Significant progress has been achieved during the past 10 years in the institutionalization of the Initiative and in actions taken at the national level to prevent and address violence against children. Building upon these developments and the lessons learned from the 10-year implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study, participants highlighted the unique momentum provided by the start of the process of implementing the 2030 Agenda to further strengthen the protection of children and to inform the Initiative’s new five -year plan. Regional priorities, such as ending sexual exploitation and abuse of children, child labour, harmful practices, including child marriage, corporal punishment and violence in schools, provide a sound basis for aligning regional and country-level action with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal targets related to combating violence against children. __________________ 9 16-12906 See www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Report-HL-Roundtable-Meeting-on-SDGs-andVAC-Colombo.pdf. 17/23