1.1 Constellation of the Global Study Actors The Study is supported by the UN Inter-Agency Task Force under the chair of the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) on Violence against Children (VAC). Other members include the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG CAAC), the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UNICEF, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). As a platform to provide UN system-wide support to the Study development, the Task Force was responsible for defining the scope of the Study, while also developing an initial budget and fundraising strategy. Serving as the Study’s secretariat, the OHCHR provided invaluable support in coordinating activities with Member States. Countless other international and regional organisations made noteworthy contributions to the Study, for which I am deeply grateful. The Advisory Board to the Study is comprised of 22 highly renowned experts in the fields of children’s rights and the right to personal liberty. Its involvement was vital in informing the research process.5 The NGO Panel for the Study, led by Defence for Children International and Human Rights Watch, consists of 170 NGOs working directly or indirectly on children’s deprivation of liberty. Collaborating closely with these organisations was key in the conceptualisation, realisation and implementation of the Study.6 Research groups for the Study were chaired by distinguished experts and their institutions from all around the world.7 Many of these academic institutions are members of the Global Campus of Human Rights, a worldwide network of 100 universities. One of these members is the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights in Vienna, which coordinated key efforts and components of the Global Study, including the international research activities. Children from all around the world with experiences of deprivation of liberty were consulted to inform the research of the Global Study. I am grateful to each and everyone for sharing their views with us and enriching this Global Study in the hope that they will make a difference in the eyes of the States and society as a whole. 5 A comprehensive list of the Advisory Board members is provided in the Acknowledgments. 6 A comprehensive list of all 170 members of the NGO Panel is provided in the Annexes. 7 A comprehensive list of the members of all Research Groupsis provided in the Acknowledgments. 19