A/HRC/8/36 Page 6 18. Senegal shared Ghana’s conviction that education must be central to strategies aimed at countering certain cultural practices such as FGM. It was particularly interested by the parallel system of conflict resolution that the Government has implemented, and asked how this system works and what the status is of the decisions it rendered. Senegal asked about the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) programme which has an important social role and which deserved to be welcomed and encouraged, and about the timeframe set by the Government for the effective implementation of the LEAP programme. 19. Finland acknowledged the commitments to protect children and women from violence, including the Domestic Violence Act in 2007 and the establishment of the Domestic Violence Victim Support unit to investigate complaints of domestic violence and child abuse. It noted the Government’s admission that domestic violence was one of the most common human rights violations and that the majority of its victims were children. Finland recommended Ghana to strengthen its efforts to fully implement the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and to prohibit all forms of violence against children. It also recommended that Ghana take further measures to implement the overarching and setting-specific recommendations of the United Nations Study on Violence against Children. 20. Finland also recommended that Ghana abolish by law the use of corporal punishment in all settings. 21. China asked whether some of the international regional human rights instruments have had a direct impact on the functioning of the police, and whether the CHRAJ, the Ministry of Justice and the courts can invoke those conventions in investigations and judgments of cases of human rights violations. As foreign debt is a major obstacle to the realization of human rights in many countries, China wanted to know how is Ghana coping with this problem and what are the difficulties it is encountering at this stage. 22. Hungary recommended that Ghana take steps to submit its reports under the ICCPR and CAT in the near future and that Ghana consider favourably the request made in 2007 by the Special Rapporteur on right to education to visit the country. It recommended that Ghana remove impediments women may face in gaining access to justice and stated that Ghana should take special measures, in collaboration with the CHRAJ, to enhance women’s awareness of their rights and legal literacy to claim their rights. It recommended that Ghana take proactive measures to ensure the equality of women in all matters related to property inheritance. It recommended that Ghana take steps to address problems related to high illiteracy rates in certain parts of the country, as well as the gender gap between boys and girls in secondary and tertiary education. 23. Romania asked what measures Ghana envisaged to prevent and combat existing societal discrimination against vulnerable groups, in particular people with disabilities and with HIV/AIDS. It asked how Ghana intended to prevent and combat situations where people take violent actions against alleged offenders or against minorities and indigenous people. It recommended that actions be taken in order to provide for effective education programmes with regard to HIV/AIDS prevention. 24. Romania recommended Ghana to continue upholding the rule of law, raising public awareness of human rights standards, and fighting against discrimination, in particular against minority groups, immigrants, and children with disabilities. It also recommended that consideration be given to revising the Criminal Code in order to repeal the provision that criminalizes the sexual activity between consenting adults.