CCPR/C/LVA/CO/3 (c) The amendments to the Asylum Law, which adjusted the mandate of the State Border Guard and the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs in dealing with asylum applications, which entered into force on 21 November 2013; (d) The National Strategy for the Prevention of Human Trafficking 2014–2020, on 14 January 2014. 4. The Committee welcomes the ratification of, or accession to, the following international instruments by the State party: (a) The Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict on 19 December 2005, and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography on 22 February 2006; (b) The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 1 March 2010; (c) The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 31 August 2010; (d) The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, on 19 April 2013. C. Principal matters of concern and recommendations Ombudsman’s Office 5. The Committee is concerned that the budget cuts have had a negative effect on the capacity of the Ombudsman’s Office to exercise its mandate effectively (art. 2). The State party should provide the Ombudsman’s Office with adequate financial and human resources, in order to exercise its mandate in line with the Paris Principles (General Assembly resolution 48/134, annex), and finalize an application for accreditation of the Ombudsman’s Office with the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. Gender equality 6. While welcoming measures taken by the State party to reduce gender inequality, such as the adoption of the Gender Equality Action Plan 2012–2014, the Committee is concerned at the persistence of a wage gap between men and women of 13–17 per cent in the private sector and at the high unemployment rate of women (arts. 2, 3 and 26). The State party should: (a) Adopt concrete measures to ensure that women enjoy equal pay for work of equal value and address the sources of the limited effectiveness of legislation on equal remuneration; (b) Ensure the equal access of women and men to freely chosen occupations. Non-discrimination of “non-citizen” residents and linguistic minorities 7. The Committee remains concerned at the status of “non-citizen” residents and the situation of linguistic minorities. In particular, it is concerned about the impact of the State language policy on the enjoyment of the rights in the Covenant, without any discrimination, by members of linguistic minorities, including the right to choose and change one’s own name and the right to an effective remedy. The Committee is further concerned at the 2