A/HRC/21/38 12. The Special Representative reiterates her call to all special procedures mandate holders, during their missions and in their reports and recommendations, to take into account the challenges faced by children insofar as they are relevant to their respective mandates, and to bring those concerns to her attention. 13. When considering or adopting resolutions on country-specific situations or thematic issues, the Human Rights Council is encouraged to include recommendations on or references to the protection of children affected by armed conflict. Several Council resolutions during the period under review included such references, including resolutions S-17-1 and S-18-1, on the Syrian Arab Republic, in which the Council strongly condemned the extensive violations of children’s rights. III. Progress and challenges in addressing grave violations against children in armed conflict 14. Since the previous report of the Special Representative, progress has been made towards the protection of children in armed conflict. On 12 July 2011, the Security Council adopted resolution 1998 (2011), in which it requested the Secretary-General to include in the annexes to his reports on children and armed conflict perpetrators of recurrent attacks on schools and/or hospitals and recurrent attacks or threats of attacks against protected personnel in relation to such facilities. The Security Council also called for such perpetrators to prepare, without delay, time-bound action plans to halt those violations and abuses. It also reiterated its determination to ensure respect for its resolutions on children and armed conflict, including by enhancing communications between the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict and the sanctions committees. 15. In the same month, following a briefing by the Special Representative on the situation of conflict-affected children in Somalia, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 (2009) concerning Somalia and Eritrea expanded its sanctions designation criteria to include grave violations against children, including recruitment and use, killing and maiming, sexual violence, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals and forced displacement in Somalia. This brings to four the number of sanctions committees that have designation criteria pertaining to grave violations against children (Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and the Sudan). 16. Since the previous report of the Special Representative, the child protection commitments made by the Governments of Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Somalia and South Sudan have been translated into specific actions by these parties. New action plans to cease the recruitment and use of children and to secure their release were signed by the United Nations and the Chadian National Army on 15 June 2011, the Central African Armée populaire pour la restauration de la démocratie (APRD) on 22 October 2011, the Central African Convention des patriotes pour la justice et la paix (CPJP) on 20 November 2011 and the Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army on 13 March 2012, respectively. 17. In Nepal, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist took the measures required for full compliance with its action plan by suspending payments, ceasing the provision of housing and encouraging disqualified minors to register for reintegration programmes. In Sri Lanka, the Government investigated the whereabouts of the remaining children allegedly associated with the faction led by Iniya Bharati, thus entering into compliance with its commitments under its action plan. In November 2011, during the visit of the Special Representative to Somalia, the Transitional Federal Government reconfirmed its commitment to negotiating an action plan to release girls and boys within the ranks of the Government forces and allied militias and began working with the United Nations towards 6