A/HRC/16/12 facing the Marshall Islands owing to the nuclear legacy and the need to address resulting health issues, the United Kingdom was concerned that the particular focus on that issue risked overshadowing the importance of providing accessible child and adolescent health care, especially the vaccination of children. The United Kingdom believed that there was a pressing need to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and underlined the importance of amending the Constitution to prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities. The United Kingdom inquired about progress in establishing an ombudsman’s office and a national human rights commission. It made recommendations. 44. Latvia thanked the Marshall Islands for its constructive engagement with the universal periodic review process. It noted that freedom of speech and press freedom were guaranteed under the Constitution and that they were generally respected. Latvia touched on the issue of standing invitations to special procedures and noted a recent visit request by the Special Rapporteur on toxic waste. Latvia made a related recommendation. 45. The United States commended the Marshall Islands for its efforts to promote human rights. However, it noted that more work was needed to improve prison conditions, curtail corruption, increase public access to public information, increase reporting of cases involving domestic violence, and address child abuse. The United States also noted that women and children continued to face discrimination and unequal access to education, training and other types of opportunities. It was concerned at the poor conditions in prisons and at the lack of specialized prison facilities for female prisoners and juveniles. The United States made recommendations. 46. Maldives expressed understanding with regard to the challenges and vulnerabilities that the Marshall Islands faced owing to climate change and severe technical and financial capacity constraints, as well as the consequences for the promotion and protection of human rights. Maldives congratulated the Marshall Islands on its efforts in the area of renewable energy and sustainable development, and its commitment to integrating the protection of human rights into its national policies to combat climate change. Maldives made recommendations. 47. The Marshall Islands thanked all participants for their contributions to the review. It noted that, because it was a small country, the implementation of all international obligations in the area of human rights would require some time, as well as additional financial resources. Nevertheless, the Marshall Islands would attempt to adhere to human rights norms set out in relevant conventions. 48. In response to questions regarding its prison system, the Marshall Islands noted that it had planned for some time to build a new prison, but that that had proved difficult as a result of resource constraints. Half of the country’s budget was allocated to education and health-care services, which were mandatory as constitutional priorities and under a bilateral agreement on the use of funding from the United States. 49. The Marshall Islands acknowledged that some constitutional amendments might be needed in order to make more specific some of the provisions on the principle of nondiscrimination, although the Constitution already contained a number of concrete provisions in that regard. 50. With regard to the prosecution of sexual crimes and violence against women and children, the Marshall Islands provided an update on progress in made in specific cases, but noted that such crimes were not always related to poverty or lack of education. The country noted that it was actively prosecuting such crimes, but that, in some instances, the prevailing extended family structures in the Marshall Islands inhibited reporting. The Marshall Islands was fighting concepts of family privacy and family pride insofar as they inhibited reporting, but acknowledged that further efforts needed to be made. 10