CRC/C/COL/CO/3 page 4 Coordination 14. The Committee, while recognizing increased efforts to seek cooperation with departmental and municipal authorities, is concerned that the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar, or ICBF) lacks stable and sufficient resources, as well as regional and municipal presences in order to effectively coordinate prevention activities and comprehensive protection of children’s rights. 15. The Committee recommends that the State party provide stable and adequate financial and human resources in order for the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) to comprehensively coordinate children’s rights and in order to establish its presence throughout the country. 16. The Committee is concerned that departmental and municipal authorities fail to shoulder their responsibility to include and prioritize resources for children in their policy and budget planning. 17. The Committee notes that departmental and municipal authorities should ensure that due consideration is given to their responsibilities and that adequate resources be allocated for children’s issues in their budgets. The Committee suggests that departmental and municipal authorities request technical cooperation from UNICEF in order to strengthen their capacity to integrate a child rights perspective in their administration. Independent monitoring 18. The Committee notes that the national human rights institution, the Defensoría del Pueblo, has a unit for children’s rights and sustains regional offices in all 32 departments. However, the Committee is concerned that large parts of the country, especially rural areas with high percentages of Afro-Colombian, indigenous and displaced populations, lack the presence of civilian authorities, notably the Defensoría del Pueblo, in order to effectively monitor children’s human rights situation. 19. The Committee values the role played by national human rights institutions and, in light of its general comment No. 2 (2002) on national human rights institutions and the Paris Principles (General Assembly resolution 48/134, annex), requests that the State party provide adequate resources to effectively carry out its mandate and to extend its representation nationwide, including to the most vulnerable areas, in order to ensure that all children have effective remedies in case of violations of their rights. Resources for children 20. The Committee regrets the lack of clear information on budget allocations and is concerned that one of the major causes of poverty in Colombia is the unequal distribution of State funds, which severely impacts on the well-being of children, in particular affecting those from more vulnerable sectors of society. In particular, the Committee is deeply concerned over the declining expenditure for education, health and welfare services, all essential to the realization of the right of the child.