A/RES/57/190 V Protection of children affected by armed conflict 1. Welcomes the report of the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral for Children and Armed Conflict; 16 2. Recognizes the progress achieved since the establishment of the mandate of the Special Representative in paragraphs 35 to 37 of General Assembly resolution 51/77 of 12 December 1996, expresses its support for his work, in particular in raising worldwide awareness and mobilizing official and public opinion for the protection of children affected by armed conflict in order to promote respect for the rights and needs of children in conflict and post-conflict situations, and recommends that the Secretary-General extend the mandate for a further period of three years; 3. Takes note of further developments in the United Nations system response to the issue of children affected by armed conflict, and requests the Secretary-General to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the scope and effectiveness of the United Nations system response, including recommendations for strengthening, mainstreaming, integrating and sustaining these activities, and to submit his report during the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly, for consideration at the beginning of the fifty-eighth session of the Assembly; 4. Calls upon the Secretary-General and all relevant parts of the United Nations system, including the Special Representative and the United Nations Children’s Fund, to intensify further their efforts to continue to develop a concerted approach to the rights, protection and welfare of children affected by armed conflict, including, as appropriate, in the preparations for the field visits of the Special Representative and in the follow-up to such visits; 5. Calls upon all States and other parties concerned to continue to cooperate with the Special Representative in implementing the commitments that they have undertaken and to consider carefully all of the recommendations of the Special Representative and address the issues identified; 6. Welcomes the continuing support for and voluntary contributions to the work of the Special Representative in the fulfilment of his mandate; 7. Also welcomes the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict 17 and urges States parties to implement it fully, and also invites States that have not yet done so to consider signing and ratifying it; 8. Urges all States and other parties to armed conflict to respect international humanitarian law and to put an end to any form of targeting of children and to attacking sites that usually have a significant presence of children, calls upon States parties to respect fully the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 18 and the Additional Protocols thereto, of 1977, 19 and calls upon all parties to armed conflict to take all measures required to protect children from acts that constitute violations of international humanitarian law, including prosecution by _______________ 16 See A/57/402. Resolution 54/263, annex I. 18 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, Nos. 970–973. 19 Ibid., vol. 1125, Nos. 17512 and 17513. 17 12