The United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict published on February 18, 2020, "Practical guidance for mediators to protect children in situations of armed conflict." In his foreword to the publication, António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, commented that the guidelines "are an important part of [the] Special Representative's work to support Member States in putting children at the centre of initiatives aimed at preventing and ending conflicts." The Special Representative, Virginia Gamba, noted in the front matter that "[g]rave violations against children continue to be perpetrated on an unabated scale by parties to conflict in most countries affected by war" and that the guidance is to be "considered as a first step towards a much more extensive exchange between the child protection and mediation communities." The substance of the guidance consists of four main "guiding principles": (I) identifying child protection issues in situations of armed conflict; (II) conflict analysis focused on child protection and the preparation of mediators for the consideration of child protection issues; (III) Key child protection elements to be considered under each substantive issue of the mediation processes; and (IV) Conclusions, including considerations on child protection issues in the implementation of peace agreements.