A/68/274 household and may have an irreversible effect on children’s development and future life; and it is particularly hard for very young victims to expose these situations or seek help. These risks are heightened when children are placed in residential care. Box II UNICEF call to action: ending the placement of children under 3 in institutionsa UNICEF urged Governments in the Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean regions to prevent the separation of children under age 3 from their families and to end children’s placement in institutional care. The call to action is framed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children.b It recognizes that placement in residential care has a detrimental impact on the health, physical and cognitive development and emotional security of very young people; and recommends five core interventions: • Legislative changes and strict conditions for placement in institutional care, which should be a last resort. • Allocation of resources to support vulnerable families and promote family-based services to prevent the separation from their families of children under age 3, and provide special attention to children with disabilities. • Capacity-building and standards of practice for child protection actors involved with children at risk of being deprived of their families. • Information and sensitization campaigns to promote social inclusion of children deprived of parental care and children with disabilities. • Mechanisms for monitoring the conditions of, and responses to, children deprived of family care. a b Issued by the UNICEF Regional Offices for Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia and for Latin America and the Caribbean. General Assembly resolution 64/142, annex. 44. Significant research highlights the serious impact of violence on young children, including on their brain development. There is also sound evidence on the valuable contribution of early childhood initiatives to the prevention of violence, as well as to the reduction of inequalities and the prevention of discrimination and social exclusion. 45. To capitalize on this potential, in late 2012, the Special Representative convened an expert consultation in cooperation with the Government of Peru, the Bernard van Leer Foundation, UNICEF and the Global Movement for Children in Latin America and the Caribbean. The meeting included the participation of a crossregional group of experts, including young people, and highlighted the urgency of: 10/26 13-41970