A/HRC/31/10 impact that the constitutional reform and other processes had on informing the Government’s priorities, the real and immediate challenge was that of the limitations in terms of human and technical capacity. For instance, the legal department of the Ministry of External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation was staffed with just one legal officer, who had the responsibility for all legal matters across all three of the Ministry’s portfolios. The capacity of the Attorney General’s Chambers was also limited to one legislative drafter. 9. Nonetheless, the delegation expressed its intention to announce, by the thirty-first session of the Human Rights Council, further achievements in the area of human rights. For instance, the formal process towards the ratification of the amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted in Kampala in 2010 had started. Also, work was under way to establish a centralized database to manage international instruments, which would allow easier access to information concerning the obligations of Saint Lucia, thus assisting in the processing of reports. 10. Since independence, the participation of women in key sectors of society had been significant. According to a report of the International Labour Organization dated January 2015, 52.3 per cent of managerial positions in Saint Lucia were held by women. Moreover, the constitutional reform process was headed by a female justice. 11. Endeavours such as the Women in Equality Empowerment Programme, the complete revamping of the education system through the Education Act of 1999 and the active participation of women at the helm in both the public and private sectors, were further evidence of the Government’s commitment to ensuring equality. 12. With the goal of sustaining the principle of equity between men and women, Saint Lucia affirmed its commitment to the full implementation of all the provisions enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. 13. The Government guarded jealously its role as protector of children, leading it to guide and shape national policies and efforts to protect the vulnerable and ensure equal opportunities for children in all parts of the country. 14. In 2012, the National Action Child Protection Committee was established with the goal of coordinating and reporting on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Government intended to provide the Committee with adequate human, technical and financial resources to enable it to effectively implement and coordinate comprehensive, coherent and consistent policies for protecting the rights of the child, in line with the State’s obligations. 15. A child-friendly budgeting approach had been introduced under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance to increase and better allocate funding for youth-related matters. Concrete and dedicated efforts were being made to safeguard disadvantaged, vulnerable and abused children in the education system and in society at large. 16. With respect to the use of corporal punishment on children, the delegation noted that, with the introduction of a child-friendly schools programme, many educational institutions had embraced alternative methods of disciplining students. 17. The use of corporal punishment on children would also be considered in the context of the ongoing reform of the juvenile justice system, together with the issue of sentencing minors to life imprisonment. 18. The Government was considering enacting ordinary legislation addressing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, as suggested by the Constitutional Reform Commission. To that end, the Labour Code Act of 2006 made it unlawful for an 4