A/HRC/13/56 1. Views expressed by the State under review on the recommendations and/or conclusions, as well as on its voluntary commitments and on the outcome 678. The delegation of Costa Rica thanked Member and observer States for their active participation and interest in the universal periodic review of Costa Rica. It wished to provide additional information and responses on issues raised during the dialogue, and to share its views on the functioning of the review, hoping to contribute in this regard to the analysis of the Council as a whole. 679. As a country with a long-standing democracy and recognized respect for the human rights of its people, Costa Rica stated that the universal periodic review process allowed it to undertake an assessment of its reality with an external perception. 680. The delegation reiterated Costa Rica’s firm conviction about the value and potential of the universal periodic review, noting in particular the usefulness of the mechanism with regard to enriching the debate between countries, the sharing of good practices and the contribution to the improvement of human rights situations. Costa Rica supported the view that the review mechanism should evolve in order to become a more meaningful and useful tool for States under review, in terms of the focus, pertinence and realities of each situation. 681. In the internal process of analysis, review and dissemination of the recommendations, it became clear to Costa Rica that a good number of recommendations referred to situations already or being addressed; others were of a general nature and/or were aimed at encouraging Costa Rica to continue in the same direction in the promotion and protection of human rights. Costa Rica considered that recommendations should focus more on areas where countries might have problems and/or to address gaps in public policies. It shared the concern expressed by many States and stakeholders and wished to make some suggestions for the universal periodic review to be a more balanced, just and effective exercise for all. 682. The delegation reported that from the 101 recommendations contained in the Working Group report (A/HRC/13/15, paras. 89, 91 and 92), 3 had already been fully implemented. These were those referring to the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (para. 89, recommendation 1), submission of the fifth and sixth reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (recommendation 11) and the strengthening of criminal legislation with regard to trafficking of children and women (recommendation 40). A total of 77 other recommendations coincided with decisions and State policies already adopted and were already being implemented before the review. These included, for example, some referring to the ratification of international instruments, such as the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which was signed by Costa Rica in 2007, and for which the legislative approval process had been under way since September 2009 (recommendation 2). The same applied to the ratification process of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions being considered by the Legislative Assembly (recommendation 4). 683. With regard to gender issues, Costa Rica provided information on the objectives of the inter-institutional/sectoral committee known as Women’s Legislative Agenda, established in 2006, the work of the Women’s National Institute and the national strategy and system to prevent and address violence against women and domestic violence (PLANOVI 2010–2015). 684. The delegation also provided information on the national policy for children and adolescents for the period 2009–2021, as well as related legislation to prohibit corporal punishment against children approved in 2008, and amendments to the penal legislation through the law to strengthen the fight against the sexual exploitation of children. 181