A/HRC/42/2 the recommendations and/or conclusions, as well as its voluntary commitments and its replies to questions or issues that were not sufficiently addressed during the interactive dialogue in the Working Group, and which were presented before the adoption of the outcome by the plenary (see also A/HRC/42/12/Add.1). 1. Views expressed by the State under review on the recommendations and/or conclusions, its voluntary commitments and the outcome 731. The delegation of Costa Rica, headed by Adriana Bolaños Argueta, Ambassador and Director General of Foreign Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, indicated that it was an honour to address the Human Rights Council in the context of the adoption of the report of the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review on Costa Rica. 732. Costa Rica recognized the fundamental role of the universal periodic review for the protection and promotion of human rights. The review had proven to be a positive experience that favoured dialogue between States, civil society organizations and the universal human rights protection system, ensuring equal treatment to all States and promoting objective, transparent, and non-selective accountability. Costa Rica also underscored the usefulness of the review process for improving the formulation of national policies aimed at the realization of people’s rights and indicated that, for this reason, it greatly valued the recommendations received. 733. The delegation expressed its view that it was essential that all human rights mechanisms function in an articulated manner. In this regard, also in follow up to resolution A/RES/68/268 on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system, Costa Rica considered that the wording/formulation of the recommendations that Member States received from human rights committees or from other Member States during the universal periodic review be more precise. It was necessary to develop increasingly clear formulations of the recommendations in order to make their assessment and follow up easier. 734. In order to ensure that all relevant actors at the national level took maximum ownership of the recommendations received, the delegation of Costa Rica did not take position on the recommendations during the Working Group session, but brought them to the exam of its Inter-institutional Commission for the monitoring and implementation of international human rights obligations. The Commission, a permanent advisory body of the Executive Power integrated by more than 20 national government institutions, was created in 2011 with the objective, inter alia, of coordinating the implementation of international human rights obligations at the national level. 735. Following the analysis carried out by the Commission, Costa Rica was pleased to report that, out of a total of 212 recommendations received, it had accepted 194, partially accepted 3, taken note of 12 and rejected 3. At the same time, Costa Rica reiterated its voluntary commitment to prepare an Action Plan for the implementation of the recommendations and submit a mid-term report in 2021. 736. Costa Rica considered that many of the accepted recommendations reiterated the same general idea, encouraging the country to continue its efforts to promote and protect human rights. In this regard, Costa Rica was pleased of the high level of coincidence between its public policies and the recommendations received. It also noted that some of the recommendations, such as the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, had already been fully implemented. 737. Costa Rica recognized that the existence of a favourable legal framework was not sufficient to ensure the effective protection of the rights of groups suffering marginalization. The simple prohibition of discrimination was not enough. The actual application of the 110