A/HRC/ 8/28 Page 9 28. Norway commended the Philippines for the comprehensive cooperation with the United Nations human rights system, including the ratification of the seven core human rights treaties and its willingness to have accepted the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions visit to the country, and requested more information on concrete steps taken to alleviate the situation of extrajudicial killings of activists, human rights defenders and journalists, including in follow-up to recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur. 29. Japan commended the efforts made by the Government of the Philippines to prepare a comprehensive national report covering wide-ranging issues. It regarded highly the efforts of the Philippines to ensure fundamental rights for vulnerable groups, including women, and was interested to know how the Government will facilitate cooperation among all stakeholders to achieve more targeted and strategically designed actions to address needs of vulnerable groups. It appreciated measures taken to address the issue of extrajudicial killings and welcomed the cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on this issue. It requested more information on how the Government evaluates the effects of the measures taken so far, especially in the view of facilitating investigations, and if additional measures are contemplated to further facilitate the efforts of the Government to improve the situation in this regard. 30. Algeria congratulated the Philippines for the comprehensive report, involving active participation of civil society and for being one of the first developing countries to become party to the seven core human rights treaties. Algeria requested further information on the reasons underlying the high proportion of women involved in emigration flows, and how it is seeking to mitigate the adverse effects of this migration on children. 31. The Syrian Arab Republic thanked and congratulated the delegation for its valuable expose about the situation of human rights in the country and drew attention to the ambitious plans of the Philippines to address poverty, malnutrition, women emancipation, unemployment, human settlements and the recruitment of children in armed conflict. Syria asked for additional information on current national plans to address the fast population growth and the high immigration rate. 32. Tunisia thanked and congratulated the Philippines for the exhaustive presentation and the participative approach to its report. Tunisia referred to the important achievements of the Philippines in the implementation of CEDAW, in particular the narrowing of inequalities between women and men, and requested further details on the main difficulties and challenges in addressing this issue, specifically in the labour market. 33. Latvia welcomed the abolition of the death penalty in the Philippines in 2006 and noted with appreciation the ratification in November 2007 of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. It also mentioned the cooperation with special procedures and asked whether the Philippines would consider extending a standing invitation to them in the nearest future. 34. Guatemala congratulated the Philippines for the openness and honesty of its national report as well as the importance granted to the issue of migrants’ rights. Guatemala highlighted the bilateral agreements concluded with various receiving countries to provide social security benefits, and requested more information on how these bilateral agreements are reached and how they function in practice. 35. Sudan was encouraged by the strategic plan, the medium-term development plan and the anti-poverty strategy put in place for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, which