CRC/C/NIC/CO/4 recommends that the State party develop targeted policies which support the holistic development of young children, in particular children in disadvantaged social environments, with a view to increasing their development opportunities. The right of the child to be heard 41. The Committee commends the achievements made with regard to children and adolescents’ right to be heard through school and municipal councils, for example, but notes that the efforts are not deep enough and that the new forms of “direct democracy” (such as the Gabinetes de Participación Popular) seem to be adult-centred and authoritarian. The Committee is also concerned that children’s views are not always duly taken into account in the family and in judicial and administrative proceedings. 42. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to ensure that children’s views are given due consideration in the family, schools and community settings, without undue adult influence, and that they are duly heard in the family and in judicial and administrative proceedings affecting them. In this regard, the Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 12 (CRC/C/GC/12) on the right of the child to be heard. 43. While commending the Constitutional measure to allow children between 16 and 18 years of age to vote, the Committee encourages the State party to ensure that it is supported by civic and human rights education in order to ensure early awareness in children that rights are to be exercised as part of citizenship, with autonomy and responsibility, and that the measure does not lend itself to undue influence. It recommends that the State party evaluate the results in an independent manner. 4. Civil rights and freedoms (arts. 7, 8, 13-17 and 37(a) of the Convention) Birth registration and the right to identity 44. The Committee notes with interest the National Plan and considerable efforts, including by NGOs, to reduce the number of unregistered children (Plan Nacional para la Reducción del Subregistro de la Niñez Nicaragüense), which has resulted in a 20 per cent decrease to date. It also notes other efforts, such as the Law on Responsible Paternity and Maternity, which allows for DNA testing. However, the Committee is concerned at the large number of children who are still not registered and who do not have birth certificates (around 40 per cent), particularly those of indigenous and Afro-descendant origins. 45. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Approve without delay the new Civil Registry Law and assign the resources needed for its application so as to enable modernisation of the current registry apparatus at both the municipal and central levels; (b) Prioritize training of civil registrars and health and education officials to rapidly close the gap, particularly in the Caribbean Coast autonomous regions (RAAN and RAAS); and (c) Conduct communication programmes and campaigns to massively disseminate the contents of the new law and encourage birth registration as a routine practice. Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 46. While noting that both the Constitution and the Children and Adolescents Code establish that children should not be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or 8