CRC/C/15/Add.173 page 2 including the Adoption Law of 1999, legislation ending discrimination against children born out of wedlock and recognizing extramatrimonial filiation, legislation against the abduction of children and their illegal transfer abroad, amendments to the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and other legislation in matters connected with child sexual offences, and a series of laws designed to punish all forms of child abuse and family violence. 4. The Committee welcomes the adoption in April 2001 of the National Policy in favour of Children and Adolescents and the Integrated Plan of Action for 2001-2010. It further notes with satisfaction that Regional Plans for Children and Adolescents were developed in all regions and that, at the local level, a Network of Municipalities for Children was established in 1994 and a working group coordinated by the Ministry of Planning and Cooperation (MIDEPLAN) was set up in 1996 to improve the coordination between the public and the private bodies supporting the municipalities and communes in their work for children. 5. The Committee notes with satisfaction the establishment in 1995 of the National Committee against Child Abuse and in 1996 of the National Advisory Committee for the prevention and eradication of child labour, set up also at the regional level. It further welcomes the establishment of offices for the protection of children’s rights, which will provide services for vulnerable children at the local level. 6. The Committee welcomes the announcement by the State party delegation that the Chilean National Congress has authorized the ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on the involvement of children in armed conflict. It further notes with appreciation that the State party has ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour and that, in compliance with ILO Convention No. 138, it has amended the Labour Code in order to increase the minimum age for admission to employment from 14 to 15 years of age. The Committee also welcomes the ratification of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. C. Factors and difficulties impeding progress in the implementation of the Convention 7. The Committee acknowledges that the State party is facing many difficulties in the implementation of the Convention, in particular due to the continuing structural problems, income and social disparities among households and poverty affecting nearly one out of three children. It further notes the persistence of authoritarian and paternalistic attitudes towards children, in particular poor ones, which may affect the rights-based approach promoted by the Convention.