CRC/C/ECU/CO/4 Legislation 9. The Committee takes note with appreciation of the progress made by the State party in the legislative review process. In particular, it notes with satisfaction the new Constitution, which establishes human rights as fundamental. However, the Committee is very concerned that in the legislative reform, the specific rights of children may become subordinated to more general issues and/or disappear under broader structures. It also notes that national legislation is not entirely in conformity with the Convention, for instance, in relation to corporal punishment and the minimum age for marriage. 10. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen and expedite its efforts to bring domestic law into full compliance with the Convention by completing a comprehensive review of legislation and its implementation, maintaining the specificity and interdependence of all children’s rights in policy, legislative, institutional and programme terms, in accordance to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Coordination 11. The Committee welcomes the information by the State party delegation that the National Council for Children and Adolescents remains the specific coordination mechanism for national policy on children, and appreciates the increase of its resources. Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned that the National Council and the Decentralized National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents (Sistema Nacional Decentralizado para la Protección Integrada de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes) which were created by the Code on Children and Adolescents of 2003, will be subordinated to a new Intergenerational Equality (sub-)Council including other population groups, as part of the setting up of an overall Inclusion and Equality Council covering all areas of social policy, as mandated by the 2008 Constitution. 12. The Committee recommends that careful consideration be given to the need for specificity and specialization of child policy, programmes and human resources, without prejudice to the search for improved institutional and budgetary rationality. It further requests that high-level and clearly identifiable priority consideration is given to children’s rights within the structure of the central Government and of the decentralized system of Government, all the relevant departments of which require authority and specific competences on children’s rights. In this respect, the Committee recommends that the new National System for Inclusion and Social Equality respects and strengthens the existing Decentralized National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents. 13. The Committee is further concerned that the effective national coverage and systematic implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the national policy on children and adolescents are undermined by inadequate coordination between the central level and the Cantonal Councils for Children and Adolescents (Concejos Cantonales de la Niñez y Adolescencia) and the Cantonal Boards for Protection of Rights (Juntas Cantonales de Protección de Derechos). Since the latter two are not included in the Constitutional reform but are essential parts of the system for the implementation of children’s rights, the Committee remains concerned that their competences and attributions may not be focused on children or properly financed. 14. The Committee recommends that the draft Organic Code on Territory, Autonomies and Decentralization allow for the articulation and coordination of the different institutions and organs covering children’s rights, thus ensuring in practice a comprehensive and specific approach that links the central and cantonal levels and the different child rights institutions among themselves, with proper and specific 3