A/HRC/21/38 immunities granted to members of armed forces suspected of serious human rights abuses and/or armed groups that will become part of a national army in the framework of a peace process. In developing legal provisions, care must be taken to ensure that amnesties are not applicable to individuals who recruit children. 37. Measures to foster the dissemination of the law are also critical for prevention. These may include the creation of child protection units in the military, which have played an important role in some countries. Educational training programmes to inform armed forces and groups of the legal protection for children during armed conflict are equally important in increasing awareness of and compliance with international norms. 38. At the national level, effective investigations and prosecutions are potentially powerful prevention tools but continue to be weak. The failure to investigate grave violations against children or to sanction those responsible is often linked to broader accountability issues. Short of systematic prosecution, a system for deterrence should be built through the prosecution of the most persistent violators. Furthermore, practical measures can be implemented by Governments to prevent under-age recruitment, such as free birth registration or alternative mechanisms for age verification, in addition to conscription policies and mandatory vetting procedures to monitor child recruitment by national armies. Strengthening family and community protection mechanisms 39. 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. Domestic violence has also been found to be a central factor in the recruitment of children. Abusive families 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. 40. 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 local people, 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 and traditional 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. 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. 41. 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 been engaged in collecting information on violations of children’s rights and in protecting children at particular risk of recruitment. 11