CRC/C/ECU/CO/4 competences and funding. The Committee urges that this design maintains the specificity of the Decentralized National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents. The Committee further recommends that appropriate participation of different interest groups, including children and adolescents, is ensured at all stages. 15. The Committee welcomes the reform of the Child and Family Institute (INFA), its public nature, the support from the national budget and the participation of civil society. 16. The Committee recommends that INFA remains focused on its specific mandate for children, especially those under 5 years of age and those in need of special protection, and that it works in coordination with other institutions dealing with related matters. National plan of action 17. The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to strengthen its planning process and the formulation of the overall development plan, called the Plan Nacional para el Buen Vivir, which is intended to be the instrument to reduce disparities in budgetary allocations and decentralize expenditure. The Committee remains concerned, however, that plans and agendas relating to children and adolescents might lose specificity and priority in the broader framework, are not funded appropriately and participation of civil society and of children is not ensured. It is also concerned that the Optional Protocols to the Convention are not covered by any plan and may therefore lack the necessary implementation. 18. The Committee recommends that, in the harmonization and updating effort being undertaken by the State party to place the 10-year National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents and its social agenda within the new Plan Nacional para el Buen Vivir and reflect it in the national budget, the principles and provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child continue to be a priority. It further urges the State party to ensure that it takes into account the Optional Protocols. Likewise, the Committee recommends that the State party take into account, inter alia, the Plan of Action “A world fit for children” adopted by the General Assembly special session in May 2002 and its mid-term review of 2007 and urges the State party to ensure that the present and emerging plan of action and/or agenda should be adequately resourced, in human and financial terms, include specific time-bound and measurable goals, and be widely disseminated and regularly monitored. The Committee urges the State party to ensure the participation of civil society and of children and adolescents, as appropriate, in the harmonization, planning, budgeting and evaluation exercises related to children and adolescents. Independent monitoring 19. The Committee welcomes the fact that the 2008 Constitution identifies the Ombudsman (Defensoría) as a legal entity, part of a new fifth branch of the State, and that it has organizational and financial autonomy, as well as a decentralized organization covering each province. The Committee is however concerned that the Ombudsman has not set up specialized arrangements to cover child rights or make its services available to children and that it only has one office for the protection of Women and Children’s Rights. It is further concerned at the delay in appointing an Ombudsman. 20. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Expedite the appointment of the new Ombudsman; (b) Create a specialized office on child rights, within the Office of the Ombudsman, with the mandate of monitoring the implementation of the Convention 4