A/HRC/15/15 religious specificities. Kuwait had developed positive interaction with all human rights mechanisms. The Syrian Arab Republic made recommendations. 32. Austria noted that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had expressed concern about several provisions of the Nationality Act, the Personal Status Act and the Civil Code, as well as the lack of a clear definition of discrimination against women in Kuwaiti legislation. It asked whether the Government was considering the abolition of the death penalty and what plans Kuwait had made to resolve the issue of the undefined status of the so-called Beduns. Austria made recommendations. 33. Jordan commended Kuwait for its progress in terms of democracy, social rights and the protection of political and civil rights. Jordan commended Kuwait for reforming its legislation and strengthening the independence of the judiciary and for undertaking new initiatives to implement action plans and establish new bodies, particularly the Women’s Affairs Commission and the Supreme Human Rights Committee Likewise, it noted the initiatives to strengthen ties between humanitarian assistance and work aimed at development and assistance. Jordan made recommendations. 34. Responding to questions, the delegation stressed that Kuwait was party to the main international and ILO instruments related to human rights. Those ratified conventions were an integral part of Kuwait’s law under article 70 of the Constitution and were implemented by the judiciary unless they required the adoption of supplementary procedures. Kuwait implemented the conventions through specialized committees. It resorted to reservations only in a most restrained manner and only regarding texts that ran counter to the Constitution or to public order. Reservations were withdrawn once the reasons for having made them no longer existed. 35. As stipulated in the Constitution, Kuwait had committed to providing health-care services as a human right to all residents, without discrimination and with the highest possible quality. These services were provided to citizens free of charge, while residents paid token fees. All children of citizens, as well as the children of illegal residents and nonKuwaiti children, were covered by governmental health-care services. Medical treatment in the event of emergencies and in cases of HIV/AIDS and cancer was provided to all children free of charge. Life expectancy at birth was 78.6 years, one of the highest in the region. 36. The law required physicians to report all cases of physical, sexual and psychological mistreatment of children under 18. In addition, committees had been established in all parts of the country to monitor such cases and ensure the medical supervision of the victims, together with the prosecution of the cases. Awareness-raising programmes had been strengthened to ensure appropriate prevention. 37. The Constitution stipulated that education was a fundamental right provided for by the State. Education in primary and intermediate schools was compulsory and was free of charge at all stages. In 1958, Kuwait had begun its pioneering plan to combat illiteracy, which stood at 3.5 per cent of the population in 2009. That figure applied mainly to persons older than 60. In order to ensure education for all, Kuwait had taken steps to integrate persons with disabilities into public education and build special schools for them, and to promote the education of women, including study abroad. At present, the percentage of women in education was 52 per cent. Kuwait had diversified secondary education and had established 13 universities offering all specializations, in addition to 6 private universities. Kuwait has also allowed for foreign residents to receive education in accordance with the systems of their countries of origin. 38. As for human rights education, Kuwait had played a leading role in the drafting of the Arab action plan for human rights education. Moreover, human rights were taught in secondary school and the university, and the curriculums were based on the precepts of the 7