CRC/C/LVA/CO/2 page 2 4. The Committee also welcomes the various measures taken as a follow-up to the Committee’s concluding observations (CRC/C/15/Add.142) after the consideration of the first report on the implementation of the Convention, such as: (a) The establishment of the Ministry for Children and Family Affairs; (b) The long-term policy planning document, the “Principal Positions Latvia Fit for Children” (2004-2015), based on the outcome document of the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in May 2005, “A world fit for children”; and (c) The establishment of a Subsistence Guarantee Fund in 2004. C. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Convention 5. The Committee recognizes the economic and social difficulties facing the State party, including the dramatic drop of the gross domestic product, caused mainly by the dissolution of the European Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, which has negatively impacted the situation of children and has impeded, and continues to impede, full implementation of the Convention. D. Principal subjects of concern and recommendations 1. General measures of implementation (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6 of the Convention) Committee’s previous recommendations 6. The Committee notes with satisfaction that various concerns and recommendations (CRC/C/15/Add.142) made upon the consideration of the State party’s initial report (CRC/C/11/Add.22) are referred to throughout the State party report and have been addressed through legislative measures and policies. However, it regrets that some of the concerns it expressed and recommendations it made regarding, inter alia, coordinated policies and institutional mechanisms relating to the rights of children, the allocation of adequate budgetary resources for family benefits, health services and education, and the expansion of family-type alternative care provisions, have been insufficiently addressed. 7. The Committee urges the State party to make every effort to address the recommendations issued in the concluding observations on the initial report that have not yet been implemented, and to address the list of concerns contained in the present concluding observations related to the second periodic report. Legislation and implementation 8. The Committee notes with appreciation that the State party has taken steps to develop a legal framework for the protection of children’s rights. It welcomes the adoption of legislative measures related to the rights of children, including amendments to the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child and to the Law on Social Services and Social Assistance and revised by-laws. The Committee is concerned, however, that there is a gap between law and practice, particularly in the areas of education, health care, juvenile justice and protection from violence.