A/HRC/8/52 page 121 271. At its 14th meeting, on 9 June 2008, the Council considered and adopted the outcome of the review on Morocco (see section C below). 272. The outcome of the review on Morocco is constituted of the report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (A/HRC/8/22 and Corr.1), together with the views of Morocco concerning the recommendations and/or conclusions, as well as its voluntary commitments and its replies presented before the adoption of the outcome by the plenary to questions or issues that were not sufficiently addressed during the interactive dialogue in the Working Group. 1. Views expressed by the State under review on the recommendations and/or conclusions as well as on its voluntary commitments 273. The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva said that when the review of Morocco in the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review had concluded on 8 April 2008, his delegation had accepted 11 of the 13 recommendations that the Working Group had formulated. In its recommendations, the Working Group had taken note of the progress made by Morocco in the field of human rights and encouraged it to continue broadening and deepening the substantial reforms undertaken in recent years at the instigation of King Mohammed VI and with the active and sustained participation of all segments of Moroccan society. Those recommendations, which fell within the framework of Morocco’s ongoing reform, were different in that while some could be implemented in the short term, others required a minimum of coordination and the taking of decisions by various departments and had time frames and budgetary implications associated with their implementation. In the light of those considerations, he wished to confirm Morocco’s acceptance of the 11 recommendations contained in the report of the Working Group (A/HRC/8/22) and inform the Council of the following measures taken to implement them. 274. Hardly two weeks after Morocco’s periodic review, on 25 and 26 April 2008, the Human Rights Documentation, Training and Information Centre, which was a subsidiary body of the Consultative Council on Human Rights, the country’s national human rights institution, had held a symposium on the launching of the preparatory process for the National Plan of Action in the area of democracy and human rights, the completion of which would allow Morocco to join the group of States that had established such an instrument at the international level. 275. The objective of the Plan was to help the Government, organizations and members of civil society in their efforts to ensure respect for and promote and protect human rights; strengthen national institutions working in that area; disseminate information on human rights standards and mechanisms, particularly among law enforcement bodies and social workers; develop specific programmes to improve the situation of vulnerable groups within the country; and place emphasis on the role of human rights in national development. Following the official launching of the Plan, the Human Rights Documentation, Training and Information Centre planned to hold four regional meetings during June and July 2008 with a view to decentralizing the debate and working together with the local actors concerned. 276. The recent initiative by the Moroccan Government aimed at combating violence against women, including domestic violence, had led to a wide range of measures ranging from the establishment of new counselling centres and shelters for battered women to a revision of the Criminal Code aimed at criminalizing domestic violence. In order to sensitize public opinion to