A/HRC/52/60 I. Introduction 1. The present report covers the period from December 2021 to December 2022 and is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 76/147, in which the Assembly requested the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to submit a report to the Human Rights Council on the activities undertaken in the fulfilment of her mandate, including information on her field visits and the progress achieved and the challenges remaining on the children and armed conflict agenda. The Special Representative further elaborates on her activities regarding the request of the Assembly in its resolution 72/245 to increase her engagement with States, United Nations bodies and agencies, and regional and subregional organizations, and to increase public awareness activities, including by collecting, assessing and disseminating best practices and lessons learned. In the report, the Special Representative outlines the multidimensional vulnerabilities of children to grave violations in armed conflict and the need for compliance with international law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. II. Working with United Nations human rights mechanisms 2. To achieve the universal ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the Special Representative continued to advocate with Member States. In October 2022, the Special Representative, together with the Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, published a press statement to encourage the universal ratification of the Optional Protocol and calling on Member States to recognize and protect all persons under 18 years of age in situations of armed conflict. 3. Regular communication with the Human Rights Council regarding violations of the rights of conflict-affected children continued, with the Office of the Special Representative systematically providing background information on children and armed conflict for thematic or country resolutions relevant to the mandate. In March 2022, the Special Representative presented her annual report to the Council.1 Her Office continued to support the universal periodic review process by providing information on the six grave violations against children in armed conflict and progress made by the countries on the children and armed conflict agenda. During the reporting period, the Special Representative provided input for the universal periodic reviews of India, Israel, Lebanon, Mali, Pakistan and the Philippines. Her Office also shared recommendations from the universal periodic review process pertaining to countries on the children and armed conflict agenda with the United Nations on the ground. 4. The Special Representative enhanced her engagement with the special procedures of the Human Rights Council to exchange information and identify common areas of concern. She met, among others, with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material, and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and discussed with them common areas of concern. In June 2022, on the margins of the fifteenth Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Special Representative co-organized a side event with the Special Rapporteur on disability on 1 2 A/HRC/49/58. GE.22-29080