A/HRC/4/14 page 18 F. Myanmar’s international human rights and humanitarian obligations 74. The Government of Myanmar has an obligation to cooperate for the advancement of human rights under the Charter of the United Nations, which provides for the promotion of “universal respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”. 75. Myanmar is party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Slavery Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It has not signed the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the United Nations Convention against Corruption. 76. Myanmar submitted its initial report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1999, but its second periodic report has been overdue since August 2002. The Special Rapporteur believes that the Government of Myanmar would benefit from a dialogue with CEDAW in view of the widespread sexual violence against women and girls that prevails in the country. The initial and second periodic reports under the Convention on the Rights of the Child were submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its next report, the combined third and fourth periodic report, is due in August 2008. The Special Rapporteur believes that this represents an opportunity for the Government of Myanmar, working with civil society, the United Nations system and CRC, to engage in a discussion on sexual violence against girls and on the recruitment of child soldiers with a view to submitting its report in the best possible conditions. 77. CEDAW and CRC have examined Myanmar’s reports and issued recommendations and concluding observations providing guidance to the Government on how to fulfil its international human rights obligations. The Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate that recommendations made by treaty bodies for protecting and promoting human rights in Myanmar represent an important tool for policymakers and development practitioners. It is therefore important for the Government of Myanmar and its partners to follow up on these recommendations. They will help to measure political will, obstacles encountered and progress made, to identify new trends, and to complement the efforts made by the Government towards the protection and promotion of human rights. 78. Myanmar also acceded to a number of ILO conventions, including, as noted above, the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87), which are of particular importance from a human rights perspective. In June 2006, the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations observed that the Government of Myanmar had been strongly criticized by various ILO bodies regarding the implementation of Convention No. 29.