A/HRC/32/12 8. The Minister thanked the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, and more specifically its human rights section, for its relentless support for all government institutions dealing with human rights, and particularly for its assistance to the Ministry of Women, Human Rights and Social Development. 9. The Minister indicated that the Government and human rights defenders had endorsed an action plan for the Human Rights Road Map. The action plan laid out the responsibilities for implementing the road map, in terms of the lead ministry, other participating ministries and other partners. The immediate need was for support for technical assistance, and financial resources. 10. There were four priority areas in the action plan. These were the establishment of the independent national human rights commission, building the capacity of the ministry for human rights, protection of vulnerable groups and civilians, and compliance with international humanitarian law. The Minister underscored the importance of investing in the capacity of the ministry and in that of the awaited human rights commission, which would enable these institutions to implement the other priorities more effectively. The Minister also underlined that her ministry was putting special emphasis on the protection of minority groups, taking steps to include them in the ongoing political process of federalizing Somalia. 11. Concerning security, the Minister indicated that the Ministry of Internal Security was leading the process of establishing unified, accountable and rights-based security institutions providing basic safety and security for all Somali citizens. 12. At the same time as preventing underage recruitment and ensuring the release of children associated with armed entities, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Internal Security were leading the process involving the integration of formal and informal security forces. The National Programme for Disengaged Combatants was assisting more than 300 disengaged combatants in the country. It was aimed at achieving sustainable reintegration and reconciliation, and emphasized the specific needs of child combatants, and of female combatants and their dependents. 13. The Minister emphasized that, as stated in the national report, the Government was preparing to provide more training to prosecutors and police investigators on human rights in the administration of justice in the coming three years in order to pay special attention to the human rights of women, children, minorities and persons with disabilities. 14. With regard to women, the Minister stated that Somalia had made significant progress in addressing the issue of gender inequality. The Government had worked tirelessly to combat disparities in fundamental and basic rights, in access to and control of resources, in employment, in governance and in political participation. The provisional Constitution provided significant affirmative action measures to ensure gender equity and equality. 15. The Somali National Gender Policy included priorities for women’s economic empowerment and for their participation in political and decision-making processes. Government institutions had revitalized their structure by setting up departments focused on gender affairs; this included the establishment of the Ministry of Women, Human Rights and Social Development to steer women’s affairs at the Cabinet level. 16. One of the most significant milestones for women was the common agreement that there should be a fixed quota of parliamentary seats for women; in the case of those seats, the seat would remain vacant if a woman was not elected to it. The Ministry of Women, Human Rights and Social Development was campaigning throughout the regions of Somalia to encourage local representatives to include women and members of minority groups in the formation process of the federal states. 4