A/HRC/43/9 99. Portugal welcomed the ratification by San Marino of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the declaration made under article 41 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognizing the competence of the Human Rights Committee to receive and consider inter-State communications. 100. Senegal noted with satisfaction the positive initiatives adopted by San Marino to strengthen the framework for the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, such as the establishment of a national commission for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It also congratulated San Marino for acceding to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure. 101. Serbia appreciated the commitment of San Marino to implementing the recommendations from the previous review cycles. It particularly welcomed the comprehensive system of social protection for all, regardless of ethnic, national or linguistic origin, with particular focus on employment. 102. Slovenia noted with appreciation the steps taken towards accession to the Convention against Discrimination in Education and called on the parliament to step up its efforts and approve that instrument as soon as possible. Slovenia also noted the challenges faced by private carers for older persons or persons with disabilities. Those carers were mostly women from third countries who remained potentially vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation due to gaps in the legislative framework. Slovenia encouraged San Marino to look into ways of improving its national legislation in that regard. 103. The delegation of San Marino stated that, having ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, it now actively participated in the Committee of the Parties and worked together with the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. Those bodies had noted that, to date, no cases of human trafficking had been recorded in San Marino, either at the judicial or the investigative level. The focus was therefore on prevention, training and awareness-raising. 104. The centre for women’s health had been opened in 1998 to provide services aimed at fostering the health and well-being of women at the different stages of life. The centre offered psychological support to young women and consultations on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and different methods of conception. 105. Abortion was a criminal offence in San Marino. Nevertheless, in specific emergency situations in which the life of the mother was at risk, termination of pregnancy was allowed in order to protect the health of the mother. That was in accordance with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine of the Council of Europe, which provided that in emergency situations, any medically necessary intervention could be carried out immediately for the benefit of the health of the individual concerned. In the case of an emergency, abortion could not be considered a criminal offence, in accordance with article 42 of the Criminal Code. 106. The law regulating civil registered partnerships had come into force in February 2019. Since then, 25 couples had registered as civil partners, some heterosexual and some same-sex couples. 107. Under an amendment to the legislation on citizenship, adopted in August 2019, the minimum period of residency necessary to obtain citizenship had been reduced from 25 to 20 years. As indicated in the national report, a law adopted in 2016 had introduced automatic granting of citizenship by naturalization after the required period of residency. 108. The Government had already examined the Convention against Discrimination in Education and had deemed it to be in full compliance with the legislation of San Marino. After deliberations within the Government, the Convention had been approved by the Parliamentary Commission for Foreign Affairs and accession to it was already on the agenda of the parliamentary session. Owing to the early elections, the accession procedure would be suspended and resumed by the new parliament. Accession to the Agreement on 12