A/65/219 65. In negotiation terms, the universal moral consensus on the protection of children should be viewed as a comparative advantage, a common point of agreement around which parties can be brought to the negotiating table, and a goodwill prerequisite for broader negotiations. It is imperative that children are not made to wait until peace is settled. Parties should be required to make child protection commitments at all stages of peace processes, whether a ceasefire or peace agreement is close or not. 66. It is therefore a matter of practical consideration that the United Nations, as well as regional mediation infrastructures and initiatives, are committed to incorporating child protection perspectives and expertise. Child protection elements should be routinely included in guidance materials for mediators, in mediation training programmes and in development of mediation tools. This includes establishment of modalities for child protection actors to regularly collaborate with mediation support focal points and to brief the mediators themselves. IV. Campaign on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict 67. The 2007 review of the Machel study stated that international standards and their enforcement were the strongest defence against impunity of child rights violations in armed conflict, yet these would only be effective if and when they were widely known, understood and implemented by everyone. In that spirit and on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (25 May 2000), the Office of the Special Representative, in partnership with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, UNICEF and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, launched a two-year campaign promoting the universal ratification of the Optional Protocol by 2012. 68. To date, 132 Member States have ratified the Optional Protocol, 24 have signed but not ratified it and 36 have neither signed nor ratified it. Universal ratification is essential for establishing a universal consensus and strengthening customary law with respect to the issues covered by the Protocol. 69. Activities around the campaign to achieve universal ratification of the Optional Protocol include bilateral meetings with Member States that have not signed or ratified the Protocol, advocacy initiatives in multilateral meetings, technical assistance for translating provisions of the Protocol into national legislation and awareness-raising events. The Office of the Special Representative also encourages specific Governments to take the lead at regional and global levels to help ensure universal ratification by 2012. V. Recommendations 70. Recalling the recommendations of the 10-year strategic review of the Machel study, as presented to the General Assembly in the Report of the Special Representative (A/62/228), Member States, United Nations agencies, 16 10-47421