A/71/206 41. Ensuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal targets related to combating violence, especially target 16.2, requires effective accountability and monitoring mechanisms at the national, regional and global levels. This is a priority concern for the Special Representative, who has promoted their consideration by the Human Rights Council, especially through its universal periodic review and special procedures; by treaty bodies’ monitoring and reporting processes; and by the voluntary national reviews of the high-level political forum on sustainable development. To support the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda, she is also actively engaged in the development of global monitoring indicators and in the promotion of monitoring tools and methodologies. 42. As the central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda, the high-level political forum on sustainable development is critical to ensuring that violence against children is at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals implementation process. The theme of the high-level political forum in 2016, “Ensuring that no one is left behind”, is of particular relevance for children who are exposed to violence. Many of these children suffer in silence, loneliness and fear and are too often left behind in gaining access to appropriate care and support services to overcome their trauma, in benefiting from recovery and reintegration and in developing to their full potential. These were key concerns that the Special Representative raised in her contribution to the 2016 Global Sustainable Development Report. 43. National Sustainable Development Goal reviews are a crucial contribution to ensuring investment in children and building a world in which every child grows up free from violence. The Special Representative is strongly committed to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals national review process, which has been high on the agenda of her field missions and was a central dimension of her 2016 crossregional round table with regional organizations and institutions. The experience gained from the first set of national voluntary review reports will provide strategic input to future reporting, follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda implementation. 44. The identification of robust indicators on the prevalence and severity of children’s exposure to violence is another critical dimension of the Special Representative’s advocacy efforts and is crucial to capturing th e magnitude and impact of violence on children and to assessing progress towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goal targets related to combating violence, especially target 16.2. As a member of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators, she strongly advocated the inclusion of three indicators on children’s exposure to sexual, physical and emotional violence, which were later adopted by the Statistical Commission. 45. The Special Representative recognizes the difficulties in collecting data on these areas due to the hidden and sensitive nature of violence against children. To overcome these challenges, she advocates the development of data collection methodologies and tools to strengthen national capacities and monit oring efforts, which can be achieved through wide consultations involving a broad range of stakeholders within and beyond the United Nations system, a process that she remains committed to supporting. 10/23 16-12906