CRC/C/NIC/CO/4 done in cooperation with civil society and taking into account all the provisions of the Convention and its two Optional Protocols. Independent Monitoring 16. While welcoming the active involvement of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Human Rights (Procuraduria Nacional de Derechos Humanos) and the Office of the Special Ombudsperson for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Procuraduría Especial de la Niñez y la Adolescencia) in the promotion, protection and investigation of violations of children’s rights, the Committee is concerned at the inadequacy of human, technical and financial resources available for this important work. It is also concerned about undue delays in the designation of the respective Ombudspersons. 17. The Committee recommends that the State party assign greater human, technical and financial resources to the Office of the Special Ombudsperson for the Protection of Children and Adolescents to ensure full exercise of its function to oversee and defend the rights of children and adolescents. It further recommends that independence in the designation and operation of the Ombudsperson for Human Rights be guaranteed. The Committee recommends that the State party take into account the Committee’s general comment No. 2 (2002) on the role of independent national human rights institutions in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child. Allocation of resources 18. While welcoming the increase in spending on health and education over the past years, especially from national resources, the Committee is concerned at the insufficient level of resources available overall for social policies and specific plans and programmes for children. The Committee is further concerned that due to the financial crisis and the low public revenue base, financial resources, including contributions for budget support and specific programmes from international cooperation, may decrease further. 19. The Committee recommends that the State party conduct an overall budget exercise in line with the preparation of a comprehensive national plan of action for children, as recommended in paragraph 15 above, that takes full account of existing health, education, nutrition and social welfare policies, special protection and other programmes and their budget needs. It further recommends that the State party satisfy the criteria of transparency and balance in budget allocations, including with regard to international cooperation. 20. In particular, and in line with the Committee’s recommendations resulting from its day of general discussion on “Resources for the rights of the child responsibility of States” (2007), the Committee encourages the State party to: (a) Increase the level of social investment for the promotion and protection of child rights, including to MIFAN, ensure the expansion and equitable allocation to disadvantaged regions and groups, and address gender and ethnic disparities, among others; (b) Utilize a child rights approach in elaborating the State budget by implementing a tracking system for the allocation and use of resources for children throughout the budget, thus providing visibility to the investment on children, and enabling monitoring and evaluation; (c) When possible, follow United Nations recommendation to implement budgeting-by-results to monitor and assess the effectiveness of resource allocation and, if necessary, seek international cooperation to that effect; 4