A/HRC/10/77 Page 4 8. In September 2008, the Parliament discussed in a first reading the new Children and Youth Act, which has paved the way for the Government’s proposal for accession to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption. As a party to that Convention, Liechtenstein would be in a position to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. The Children and Youth Act also envisages the appointment of an ombudsperson for children, taking into consideration the Paris Principles. 9. The creation of the independent national preventive mechanism for the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in founded on the revised Execution of Sentences Act, which also reflects relevant recommendations issued by the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture after its latest visit to Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein also indicated that its report to the Committee against Torture was submitted in November 2008. Therefore, Liechtenstein has honoured all its reporting obligations under the United Nations treaty body system. 10. The Liechtenstein Parliament has also adopted the Foreigners Act and the new Naturalization Act. According to the latter, citizenship will be granted to foundlings and stateless children. With the entry into force of the Act in February 2009, Liechtenstein will be in a position to withdraw its reservations to article 24 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It will also pave the way for the State’s accession to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 11. Liechtenstein underlined its political will not to let the financial crisis compromise its commitment to development cooperation and to reach the 0.7 per cent official development assistance (ODA) target before the end of the decade. State ODA consists to a large extent of support for small-scale projects carried out by non-governmental organizations and local communities. 12. Responding to questions sent in advance by other countries, Liechtenstein indicated that the Equal Opportunity Commission and its operational Office of Equal Opportunity were established in 2005. The Commission defines strategies on questions of equal opportunity with social relevance, develops recommendations for action, observes developments, monitors implementation measures and advises the Government. The Office focuses its activities on combating discrimination and advancing de jure and de facto equal opportunity in areas such as gender equality, disabilities, migration and integration of foreigners, social disadvantage and sexual orientation. The Office in particular serves as a contact office for victims, provides substantial legal counselling and acts as a facilitator for people seeking advice, including with regard to complaints to the Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court. It also carries out awareness-raising initiatives and drafts opinions on legislative proposals. 13. While the Office is not fully independent in the sense of the Paris Principles, it directly supplements the existing legal and structural framework for lodging complaints for actions by local and central authorities. In order to further diversify and strengthen this regime, the establishment of an ombudsperson for children is planned, in accordance with the Paris Principles. In addition, the non-governmental organization Liechtenstein Association for People with Disabilities has been given the competence to monitor the implementation of the new Disability Equality Act and to address complaints to the Government and the courts for noncompliance with its provisions. These two new bodies will complement the work undertaken by