A/HRC/8/49 Page 9 violence against women. It also asked about additional measures taken to address child abandonment. 32. Italy noted with appreciation Romania’s cooperation with international human rights bodies but noted that it is experiencing delays in submitting its reports to treaty bodies, and asked whether the authorities intended to correct this situation. It noted that Romania had adopted legal provisions on the prevention and punishment of all forms of discrimination and had established the National Council for Combating Discrimination, but that gender discrimination, specifically domestic violence against women, remained an issue of concern. It recommended to Romania the adoption and effective implementation of measures to prevent and eliminate domestic violence against women. It also recommended that Romania develop a national strategy for human rights education in the school system, in accordance with the Plan of Action 2005-2009 of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, including the review and revision of curricula and textbooks, the training of teachers, and the practice of human rights in the school community. 33. The delegation of Romania noted the Government’s initiative on a national plan for human rights, carried out in dialogue with NGOs, and which will be assessed at the end of 2008. Attention was paid to the gender perspective in the drafting process of the national report and in each sectoral review undertaken. Romania recognized that Roma women are among the most exposed to multiple discrimination. The National Council for Combating Discrimination is qualified to investigate and sanction cases of discrimination, it receives and reviews petitions and complaints and has sanctioned very high-level individuals. In 2007, the National Council adopted the national strategy on combating and preventing discrimination. The national strategy on the rights of children 20082013 will be adopted. It is the first strategy that refers to all categories of children including children with disabilities. The law on religious freedom was agreed by most religious denominations before its adoption by the Parliament, and the law does not restrict in any way the exercise of freedom of religion. Freedom of expression has not been restricted by this legislation, and the only aim is to prohibit hate speech and ideas that would have insulted believers. With regard to the issue of the restitution of property of the Romanian Church United with Rome, it noted a normative act and the free access for the Romanian Church United with Rome to ask in court for restitution, if its dialogue with the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church failed. The public authorities try to enhance this dialogue. 34. The delegation noted that the cooperation and verification mechanism upon accession to the European Union had several benchmarks, including the strengthening of the independence of the judiciary, continuing the reform process of the judiciary and efficiently fighting corruption. Among recent progress, the delegation noted institutional measures, including the creation in 2007 of the National Agency for Integrity which, inter alia, verifies the declaration of assets and interests for a broad area of people in high-level positions. The National Agency for Integrity was set up and will start working in 2008. The main body specialized in fighting corruption at medium and high-level is the National Anti-Corruption Directorate within the Ministry. The delegation noted its efforts to fight corruption also at the local levels, and the strengthening of efforts to combat petty corruption. Observance of a code of conduct is encouraged not only by the authorities but also by civil society. With regard to the penitentiary system, the issue of overcrowding has been addressed over the years and is not a problem any longer. The index of occupation percentage in the prison system is 79. On the issue of policies on the rights of Roma, measures have been introduced enabling Roma communities to use European Union funds to improve their situation, and in the last three years, the National Agency representing Roma interests made the issue of EU funds a main objective. The National Agency for Roma started a raising awareness campaign within the Roma communities about accessing these funds. In April 2008, the Government noted that the national agency for Roma had received tens of millions of euros for projects in the areas of employment and education,