A/HRC/26/5 development. Some of the policies worth mentioning that had been implemented were the extension of postnatal leave from three to six months, the law establishing the shared care of children and the increased coverage of day care and preschool education by over 100,000 places. In addition, 54 per cent of the 840,000 jobs created in the past four years were for women; the rate of female labour participation had reached 48 per cent and the female unemployment rate had decreased to a historical low, from 10.3 per cent in 2009 to 6.2 per cent in 2013. 117. Regarding abortion, the Constitution protected the life of the unborn, so that any action to terminate a pregnancy was prohibited and punished. However, in exceptional instances, where the mother’s life was in danger, the law allowed physicians to perform treatments that were necessary to save the life of the mother, even when the life or integrity of the child was affected as a necessary and secondary consequence. 118. Chile had promoted various initiatives to improve conditions for persons deprived of their liberty. A first step was a plan of 11 measures, which included a significant investment to address problems of infrastructure, security, housing and health. Hence, overcrowding in prisons had been reduced to 25 per cent in 2013. Since 8.7 per cent of the prison population was female, the Government had developed a prison policy with a gender perspective. 119. The delegation concluded by thanking those delegations which had intervened; opinions, recommendations and constructive criticism were invaluable for assessing progress and challenges in the promotion and protection of human rights in Chile. The delegation sought to answer as many questions as possible and pledged to respond in writing to those that had not been addressed for lack of time. 120. Chile had made progress in building a culture of respect, promotion and protection of human rights but major challenges remained. The Government took them seriously and, in this context, acknowledged the importance of the universal periodic review mechanism and the recommendations derived from it, being aware that they would contribute to a more just and equitable society. II. Conclusions and/or recommendations** 121. The following recommendations will be examined by Chile which will provide responses in due time, but no later than the twenty-sixth session of the Human Rights Council in June 2014: 121.1. Consider withdrawing its reservations to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (Philippines); 121.2. Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (France); 121.3. Proceed with the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (Portugal); 121.4. Set a date for ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Ireland); ** Conclusions and recommendations have not been edited. 13