A/HRC/11/16* has notably contributed extensively to preparing the national report for the UPR. It was also a key player in awareness raising activities conducted to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The delegation indicated that further human and material resources will be mobilised for an optimum operation of the NHRC. He indicated that the establishment of pluralist democracy and the rule of law required an in-depth reform of the judicial system, directed both in human and material capacities. A law on the status of magistrates, a considerable increase of magistrates’ salary, the establishment of jurisdictions competent for family law and the establishment of a prison guards unit trained in human rights were mentioned as part of these efforts. In less than a decade, the judicial staff has increased threefold. All justice facilities have been refurnished in order to facilitate access to justice and to improve magistrates’ working conditions. 7. He also informed that, alongside the modern justice system, there was a traditional justice system, which is independent and accessible to all. It is competent to settle minor civil cases and respects fundamental judicial principles, such as right to appeal, contradictory approach and publicity. An Ombudsman was established in 1999 by law, who is entrusted in settling disputes between the administrative services and its users. The Ombudsman is appointed for a mandate of 6 years, is an independent body, and enjoys immunities in the exercise of his/her functions. The Ombudsman reports on a yearly basis to the President of the Republic and to the Parliament. The delegation of Djibouti acknowledged that the established system can certainly be improved. 8. He indicated that the new Labour Code defines the non-negotiable principle “equal pay for equal work”. In this regard, the President of the Republic of Djibouti initiated a voluntarist policy for the promotion of women. One objective of the National Strategy to Integrate Women in Development is to increase their participation in decision-making. Although women are members of the Government and the Parliament as well as present in the judiciary and other public services, he acknowledged that parity is far from being reached. Many initiatives were undertaken in order to improve the status of women but he also acknowledged that customs and traditions are the main obstacles to reach this aim. The ratification by Djibouti of CEDAW enabled the revision of the national legislation. In 2000, on the Women’s Day, the President of the Republic referred to the cultural burdens and called for a national awareness of the need for partnership and complementarity between men and women in order to redress the situation. 9. Regarding children’s rights, he recalled that Djibouti was one of the first States to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and many of its provisions were integrated in national legislation, such as protection against all forms of violence, respect of the opinion of the child and its best interests, the protection of children in conflict with the law and birth registration, which is mandatory by law. He further stated that education is a priority of the Government and absorbs 28 per cent of the national budget. A comprehensive review organised in 1999 reaffirmed the right of all to education and established compulsory education for children aged between 6 and 16 years. The objective of the Government is to achieve education for all in 2015 pursuant to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In order to reach this goal, the Government’s strategy is based on two complementary aspects, namely available schooling and the social demand for education, notably through the building of schools, recruitment and training of teachers and awareness-raising campaigns, notably regarding schooling for girls and education for children with special needs. The rights of the child are integrated in primary school curricula and human rights in the post-primary school curricula. Human rights and the rights of the child are also included in the training modules for teachers. He also provided statistics regarding the increase in numbers of classrooms in primary and secondary education, the increased numbers of teachers and the significant increase in the access to 4 GE.09-15263