CRC/C/15/Add.154 page 3 provisions of a new draft Children’s Code introduced in Congress in October 2000 are not in conformity with the Guatemalan Constitution and the Convention, as the Government itself noted in its written response to the list of issues. The Committee is encouraged that according to information provided during the dialogue with the State party delegation the Congress and civil society are engaged in negotiations and discussions about the drafting of a Children’s Code which is in conformity with the Constitution and the Convention. 11. The Committee, in line with its previous recommendation (ibid., para. 25), strongly recommends that the State party support as much as possible the process to draft a new Children and Adolescent Code that is in full conformity with the principles and provisions of the Convention, expedite its approval by Congress, and ensure its enactment and full implementation as soon as possible. This new code should make a clear distinction, in terms of judicial procedures and treatment, between children in need of care and protection and those in conflict with the law, and should therefore not be based on the doctrine of “irregular situation”. Coordination 12. The Committee is concerned at the inadequate coordination within government agencies, both at the national and local levels, as well as between government agencies and non-governmental organizations working in the field of children’s rights. Further, it notes with concern that the bodies designated to carry out these tasks, i.e. the National Children’s Council at national level and the departmental and municipal Children’s Councils at the local level, were not established because the Children and Adolescent Code did not enter into force. It is also noted that another coordinating body, the Commission for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (PRODEN), had to scale down its activities due to a cut in its resources. 13. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation to the State party for a permanent and multidisciplinary mechanism to be developed for coordinating and implementing the Convention at the national and local levels, including the establishment of various mechanisms at all levels to ensure the effective decentralization of the implementation of the Convention, and for the promotion of close cooperation with non-governmental organizations (ibid., para. 27). Further, it recommends the allocation of adequate financial and human resources to existing bodies working in the field of children’s rights. Allocations of budgetary resources 14. While noting the information that there has been an increase in budgetary allocations for children, the Committee nevertheless reiterates its concern that these allocations are not sufficient to respond to national and local priorities for the protection and promotion of children's rights and to overcome and remedy existing disparities between the regions and rural/urban areas with respect to services provided to children (ibid., para. 31). Further, it notes with deep concern that, according to data provided in the State party’s report, 88.9 per cent of the population aged between 0 and 14 live in a state of poverty.