A/HRC/42/8/Add.1 SI No. Recommendation Position legal status” (United States of America) Responses the Constitution is to protect the rights of an individual to practice a faith of his or her choosing from those who may compel or induce or entice, and not to limit the rights. 158.60 “Ensure respect for the rights of individuals belonging to religious communities and ensure their inclusion by facilitating the registration of minority religious groups” (Canada) Registration of religious organization is not a prerequisite for practice. Religious groups are free to practice without registering with the Chhodey Lhentshog (Commission for Religious Organizations). 158.61 “Ensure freedom of religion and belief and actively combat discrimination against religious minorities” (Estonia) XIII. 158.62 “Strengthen measures to combat school dropout, especially of pregnant girls, girls from rural areas and girls belonging to communities discriminated against on grounds of their language, caste, race, religion and any other status” (Peru) Noted As one of the initiatives to retain female students in schools, the Royal Government has started providing free sanitary napkins and other sanitation facilities. In addition to sexual and reproductive health education included in the curriculum, advocacy programs are carried out in secondary schools to raise awareness on teenage pregnancy, mental illness, and substance abuse. However, the recommendation that the girls are discriminated on the grounds of their language, caste, race, religion etc. is factually incorrect. Therefore, this recommendation does not enjoy the support of the Royal Government. XIV. 158.63 “Enable women to transmit Bhutanese nationality to their children under the same conditions as men” (France) Noted On the matter of citizenship, the Constitution of Bhutan is very clear. As in any other country, there are clear procedures and criteria laid down to obtain citizenship, irrespective of ethnicity, gender or religion. These criteria are followed both in letter and spirit. Besides natural born citizenship, there are two avenues to obtain citizenship through a) registration and b) naturalization. XV. 8 Noted 158.64 “Take all necessary measures to end the practice of child marriage and define child marriage as an offence in the Criminal Code” (Belgium) Since the enactment of the Constitution of Bhutan in 2008, more than ten thousand applicants have been granted citizenship till date. These include people from all walks of life, ethnicity and gender. Article 9, section 18 of the Constitution of Bhutan protects children against all forms of discrimination and exploitation including trafficking, prostitution, abuse, violence, degrading treatment and economic exploitation. The Penal Code of Bhutan further criminalizes the rape of a child. Further, the Child Care & Protection Act clearly specifies the age of children as all persons below 18 years of age. Child marriage is prohibited and marriage certificates are not issued to persons below 18 years. Additional efforts to prevent child marriage include the Ministry of Health’s