A/HRC/25/13 include international drug trafficking. Although Belize did not yet have in place a single comprehensive law to implement the Rome Statute, existing domestic laws did respond to the State’s obligations under the Rome Statute, including the Genocide Act and several other pieces of legislation that cover crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction. 43. Belize was encouraged by the recent pace of ratifications of the amendments adopted at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute, held in Kampala. Belize was reviewing those amendments and welcomed the offer of Liechtenstein to provide technical assistance to support the Government’s consideration of the amendments. 44. Despite its best endeavors and intentions, Belize was unable to submit a full national report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; that continued to be a work in progress. 45. The Constitution of Belize prohibited discrimination against all persons and affirmed that “all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law”. The Prime Minister had reiterated that Government would not “shirk its duty to ensure that all citizens, without exception, enjoy the full protection of the law”. Belize noted in that context, as well, an advance question regarding a section of the Criminal Code which criminalized sodomy. The section of the Criminal Code was sub judice. 46. The delegation stated that the inextricable link between development and human rights was the recurring theme of its presentation and of the national report. Belize was a small State, facing severe economic and financial constraints in the context of the global financial crisis. The Government was proud that, despite resource challenges, Belize had found ways to increase investments in its social and economic development to enable Belizeans to actualize their social and economic human rights as well as their civil, political and cultural rights, which were firmly entrenched in the Constitution. 47. The delegation emphasized that room for improvement existed and welcomed the opportunity provided by the UPR to engage in a good-faith discussion with Members of the Human Rights Council on how to further strengthen the system of protections. B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review 48. During the interactive dialogue, 40 delegations made statements. Recommendations made during the dialogue are to be found in section II of the present report. 49. Cuba praised the strategy implemented by Belize to address the economic and social impact of natural disasters, which were common in the country. It welcomed efforts to achieve gender equality, reduce poverty and address income disparity. It noted that the implementation of an education strategy had allowed Belize to make progress on access to, and the quality of, teaching, despite persistent challenges. Cuba made recommendations. 50. Ecuador congratulated Belize on the progress it had made regarding human rights, particularly in the areas of gender, older persons, young people and persons with disabilities. Ecuador made recommendations. 51. France welcomed the efforts made by Belize since its first UPR, particularly the ratification of CRPD. France made recommendations. 52. Germany recognized many of the challenges and resource constraints faced by Belize. It was, however, concerned that Belize had failed to implement many of the recommendations accepted in 2009, and encouraged the country to continue to implement its accepted first-cycle recommendations. Germany made recommendations. 8