E/C.12/TGO/CO/1 next periodic report on the impact of the implementation of the national action plan for water management and sanitation. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water and its statement on the right to sanitation (E/C.12/2010/1). 34. The Committee notes with concern the high illiteracy, dropout and repetition rates in the State party, particularly among girls. The Committee is further concerned that the education system in the State party is affected, inter alia, by a critical shortage of teachers, insufficient infrastructure and the proliferation of primary and secondary schools arising from local initiatives (arts. 13 and 14). The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) allocate sufficient resources to uphold the right to education; (b) address the underlying causes of its school dropout and repetition rates and of the disparity between girls and boys with respect to their enjoyment of the right to education; (c) adopt a literacy and non-formal education policy; and (d) ensure that minority languages and human rights are taught at all levels of the education system. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 13 (1999) on the right to education. 35. The Committee regrets that it has not been provided with information on the application of the principle of cultural self-identification in the State party or on the lawfully protected rights of ethnic groups (art. 15). The Committee requests that the State party provide information in its next periodic report on the application of the principle of cultural self-identification in the State party. In view of the State party’s ethnic diversity, the Committee recommends that it ensure that its laws protect the rights guaranteed to all ethnic groups, including the right to enjoy their cultural diversity, their traditions, their customs and their own languages, as well as all other manifestations of their identities and cultural ties. The Committee also calls on the State party to act upon the recommendations of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission concerning ethnic disputes (recommendation No. 30). The Committee directs the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 21 (2009) on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life. 36. The Committee recommends that the State party review and adopt the national plan for the implementation of human rights recommendations in the light of the treaty bodies’ recommendations as soon as possible. The Committee also urges the State party to allocate the necessary financial and human resources to put that plan into effect. 37. The Committee encourages the State party to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which it signed on 25 September 2009. 38. The Committee encourages the State party to consider signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure. The Committee also encourages the State party to consider ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 39. The Committee invites the State party to continue to cooperate with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and with the relevant specialized agencies and programmes of the United Nations in Togo on matters related to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. 40. The Committee requests that the State party disseminate these concluding observations widely among all sectors of society, including the civil service, the judiciary and civil society organizations, and to provide information in its next periodic report GE.13-44283 9