A/HRC/24/8 8. Despite the above-mentioned situations, Tuvalu expressed its commitment to protect human rights and to meet its obligations on human rights, while noting that many commitments were dependent on the availability of financial and technical resources. In that regard, the advantages of the UPR process were welcomed, particularly the fact that it allowed Tuvalu to take stock of the human rights protection and permitted the Government to inform the international community of its human rights situation and to engage with other countries regarding the improvement of human rights. 9. With the aim of answering the advance questions received, the Head of the Delegation explained that, despite the fact that Tuvalu had not fully implemented all the supported recommendations of the last review, it had addressed human rights matters of significant relevance for the country, by mainly using the Te Kakeega II (National Strategic Development Plan). Some of the key national priorities identified in the National Strategic Development Plan were: education, health, establishment of the Ombudsman’s Commission, gender-equality promotion, expansion of women’s role in development, youths’ participation in sports, promotion of traditional knowledge and culture, local governance and community development, revision of labour-related legislation, access to safe drinking water, housing availability and mitigation of the impacts on agriculture of climate change. 10. She also highlighted some progresses made related to Tuvalu’s human rights commitments, such as the reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; the support of the visit of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation; the support of the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; the inclusion of gender in government planning; and the visibility given to climate change issues. 11. Tuvalu noted, however, several challenges and constraints in the implementation of recommendations and the overall human rights commitments, mainly the funding constraints, resource availability and opportunity, which denied the outer islands the opportunity to participate actively. The impacts of climate change and sea-level rise; the lack of internal capacity, financial support, human resources and understanding of the United Nations human rights conventions, were likewise recognized as constraints on implementing the UPR recommendations. 12. Tuvalu mentioned that its plans for implementing the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation would be finalized upon receiving the final report from the Special Rapporteur. However, the Government was working to ensure a priority to access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. 13. Tuvalu reported that the Government was considering supporting the ratification of core human rights treaties but discussions were ongoing given the country’s capacity constraints and the responsibility attached to the implementation of such treaties. 14. Likewise, regarding the questions received on legislative compliance, the Government was seeking financial and technical assistance from the international community. In that regard, with the assistance of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Tuvalu was considering facilitating a legislative compliance review of national laws and a cost benefit analysis before ratifying specific treaties. The Government had already endorsed accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, however. 15. On women’s rights and traditional practices, domestic violence was the main form of violence against women in Tuvalu. The CEDAW National Taskforce was giving more attention to this issue and the Family Protection and Domestic Violence Bill was awaiting community consultations in all islands before resubmission to Cabinet for consulting in 4