Concluding Observations and Recommendations on the Second Periodic Report of the Republic of Benin 11. Further appreciates the measures and efforts taken by the Government to introduce the right to education for all by 2015, in conformity with the Millennium Development Goals. 12. Recognises that since the examination of Benin’s 1st Periodic Report in 1994, several measures have been taken to enhance the enjoyment of human rights in the country. This includes amongst others, the adoption of legislations, policy measures and judicial and institutional interventions such as: the reform of the administration of justice policies, respect for individual freedoms and reform initiatives, the National Gender Policy and other legal reforms to prevent discrimination against women and children, the introduction of human rights in philosophy training programmes at the general and technical schooling levels and the increase in state subsidies granted to private media houses. 13. Also appreciates the development of a democratic system in Benin by the setting up of decentralised organs and the holding of the 2002 local government and municipal elections, the fourth presidential elections in April 2006, and the Legislative and 2004 local government elections. 14. Welcomes the current efforts by the State Party to ban female genital mutilation and for making the practice a criminal offence; and further welcomes the efforts made by the Government to protect the social and economic rights, by making the same justiceable. 15. Welcomes the efforts made by Benin to incorporate international human rights instruments as well as recommendations of treaty bodies into its domestic law, such as the Persons and Family Code in 2005 and the Code on the Child in 2007. 16. Further notes that Benin has strengthened its institutional framework by the creation of various institutions and structures aimed at ensuring the promotion and respect of human rights, such as the National Commission on the Right of the Child, the Presidential Mediator and the Minors Protection Units (Brigade de protection des mineurs). 17. Welcomes the efforts and commitments by the Government of Benin to combat poverty through the provision of micro-credit facilities. The Commission also welcomes the steps taken to achieve the Millennium Development Goals including efforts to guarantee the right to health and 45th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR 3|Page