CRC/C/PAN/CO/3-4 Coordination 11. The Committee is concerned that the earlier Council for Children and Adolescents has been replaced by the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and the Family (SENNIAF), whose mandate and authority to coordinate all entities of the State party devoted to children’s rights is unclear. The Committee is also concerned that the Secretariat is challenged in meeting its responsibilities by inadequate human and budgetary resources including the fact that, despite its national mandate, its geographical reach is limited to Panama City. While it welcomes the establishment of the Advisory Council on Early Childhood, signalling the priority conferred to early childhood (0 to 6 years), the Committee is concerned that this could undermine and reduce the focus on all children of all ages throughout their life cycle. 12. The Committee recommends that the State party streamline responsibilities by different entities dealing with children’s rights and enhance coordination leading to a holistic implementation of the Convention. This would require the establishment of an authoritative body for coordination, with the participation of all relevant ministries and entities at the highest level, with the Early Childhood Advisory Council being a part of this mechanism, in order to assure the coordination between all different sectors and entities as well as between the central and regional levels. The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to allocate sufficient human, technical and financial resources to this high-level coordination mechanism. National Plan of Action 13. The Committee welcomes the elaboration of the Comprehensive Plan of Action for Early Childhood and the priority afforded to this age group, However, it deeply regrets the lack of a comprehensive national plan of action for all children, which is related to the absence of a national policy on child rights, and which renders extremely difficult the effective implementation of all child rights for all children. 14. The Committee strongly reiterates its recommendation that the State party adopt a comprehensive national policy and related plans to promote, protect and fulfil the rights of all children throughout their life cycle, as an integral part of the National Development Plan. Independent monitoring 15. The Committee notes the establishment of a Specialized Unit for Children and Youth within the Office of the Ombudsman (Defensoría del Pueblo) but it remains concerned about the lack of trained staff specialized in children rights, and the dearth of financial resources allocated to such a Unit. 16. Drawing attention to its general comment No. 2 on the role of independent human rights institutions in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child (CRC/GC/2002/2), the Committee reiterates its call to the State party to ensure that the Specialized Unit for Children and Youth of the Defensoría del Pueblo be provided with the necessary human, technical and financial resources to effectively monitor, promote and protect children’s rights, and to deal with complaints from children in a child-sensitive and expeditious manner. Allocation of resources 17. The Committee regrets the lack of clarity of data on the extent of the investment on children, whether on aggregate terms or for specific programmes. The lack of a disaggregated budget for children’s rights as part of the national budget is itself connected to the absence of a comprehensive law on children’s rights and relevant policy and plans for 3