A/72/275 brought together more than 500 leaders and members of the world’s faith and spiritual traditions from 70 countries to increase understandi ng of the scale and impact of violence against children, identify ways religious leaders could help to tackle it, and enhance the commitment of faith communities to prevent violence and ensure the protection of children. 10. The Forum adopted the Panama Declaration on Ending Violence against Children, 3 which reaffirms the moral imperative to protect children from harm and recognizes that no religious teaching or tradition justifies any form of violence against children. 11. The Declaration expresses strong resolve to support implementation of the 2030 Agenda and a clear commitment to raise awareness and promote action within faith communities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal targets on ending violence against children. It pledges to generate greater social and political will for legislation and policies, and increased funding of programmes for children’s protection, and commits to listening to children with respect, educating religious and spiritual leaders and communities about the different forms of violence against children and offering education in positive parenting and ethical values to help families and children develop empathy and become more resilient. 12. In April, cooperation with Buddhist leaders was further enhanced when the Special Representative joined representatives from Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam to identify ways of preventing violence, including the online abuse and sexual exploitation of children. Participants identified opportunities for Buddhist leaders to use their authority and influence to raise awareness within their communities; break the silence surrounding violence against children and provide support to victims; and promote effective responses by Governments, including strengthened laws and policies and adequate allocation of resources. They also committed to mobilize Buddhist leaders across Asia to ensure that Buddhist temples and communities were safe spaces for children that could heal and reintegrate victims of violence. 13. Cooperation with the corporate sector also remained a high priority for the Special Representative. The meeting of the Global Child Forum on South America provided a strategic platform to enhance support from business sector allies and to document and share good practices that help strengthen children’s protection. 14. The valuable experiences presented during the meeting illustrated how the corporate sector can add its influential voice to global efforts to prevent and address violence against children, using its leverage with peers and partners to support advocacy, policy reforms and mobilization campaigns in favour of children’s protection from violence, while mitigating risks associated with products a nd services that can lead to the abuse and exploitation of children. 15. As the Special Representative stressed to participants in the Forum, it is critical to match commitments by the business sector with practical implementation efforts. This should include having a code of ethics that protects children from violence in all of a company’s operations, practices and procedures, supply chains and procurement policies; ensuring sound and transparent monitoring and reporting of compliance, and progress to track, prevent and respond to potential incidents of violence; and training staff and suppliers to widen the circle of protection around children. __________________ 3 17-13267 http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/sites/default/files/2017/ Panama%20Declaration%202017.pdf. 3/18