CRC/C/ECU/CO/4 Protection of witnesses and victims of crimes 80. While noting the existence of a victim and witness protection programme and that the Code on Children and Adolescents establishes administrative and judicial measures to ensure that rights are protected and restored, the Committee is concerned about the inadequate recovery and reintegration services provided to child victims, especially those of sexual exploitation. 81. The Committee recommends that the State party incorporate a child rights focus in justice and law enforcement institutions and increase budgetary allocations for the administration of justice. It also recommends that the State party ensure, through adequate legal provisions, procedures, and regulations, that all child victims and or witnesses of crimes, e.g. children victims of abuse, domestic violence, sexual and economic exploitation, abduction, and trafficking, as well as witnesses of such crimes have effective access to justice and be provided with the protection required by the Convention, taking fully into account the United Nations Guidelines on Justice in Matters involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime (annexed to Economic and Social Council resolution 2005/20). Children belonging to indigenous groups 82. The Committee welcomes the constitutional definition of Ecuador as a plurinational and intercultural State, as well as the participatory process and framework of understanding that has produced the Agreement between the State and Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities for Children and the Plan for Good Living from the Beginning of Life, which encompasses the Minimum Agenda for Indigenous Children of Ecuador. It also welcomes current efforts to define and implement local goals for protection and promotion of indigenous children’s rights in 54 cantons, and the sustained advances in intercultural and bilingual education. Nevertheless, the Committee remains concerned at the low budgetary allocation per capita to the educational system in provinces with majority indigenous population, and the lack of information on its evaluation. Likewise, it notes with concern the barriers for adolescents in having access to culturally and gender-sensitive sexual and reproductive health information and education. 83. The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to protect the rights of indigenous children, respect their culture and guarantee their enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the national constitution, domestic law and the Convention. In this regard, the Committee refers the State party to its general comment no. 11 (2009) on indigenous children and their rights under the Convention. The Committee also recommends that the State party implements the Minimum Agenda for Indigenous Children in Ecuador, fully respecting its nature and the participatory process from which it originated, trains indigenous and local leaders and related public services staff accordingly and provides adequate resources, ensuring that monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are put in place. The Committee encourages the State party to continue to strengthen intercultural and bilingual education, paying due attention to the culture of indigenous children in accordance with article 30 of the Convention. 9. Ratification of international human rights instruments 84. The Committee recommends that the State party ratify the core United Nations human rights instruments to which it is not yet a party, namely the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. 18

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