16 It should be pointed out at this point that in order to encourage women to participate actively in their country’s political affairs, Burundi had provided for a quota of at least 30% for women as set out in Articles 129 and 164 of the Constitution. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted on 20 November 1989, and it entered into force on 2nd September 1990 on which the Initial Report had been produced in 1997. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child adopted in Addis Ababa in July 1990 was ratified by Burundi on 11 August 2000. The Constitution of the Republic of Burundi was adopted in March 2005, which links together all the rights and responsibilities enshrined in the Charter. Finally it should be indicated that alongside the Constitution can be cited the Burundian Penal Code adopted on 22 April 2009, the Criminal Procedure Code, various other Instruments, such as, in particular, the General Orders of the Public Servants concerning the access to the Public Service, the Decree-Law n° 1/ 11 1 of 18 April 1992 on the organization and functioning of the Asbl , the recent establishment of the National Communication Council in order to regulate and closely monitor the activities of media professionals etc, the Citizenship Code, the measure taken by the President of the Republic on his assumption of office in 2005 pertaining to the provision of free primary education. Article 2: The Enjoyment of Rights and Freedoms Every individual has the right to enjoy the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the present Charter with no distinction as to race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political conviction or any other opinon, to national or social origin, to fortune, to birth or any other status. Article 22 of the fundamental law stipulates that « All citizens are equal before the law, which guarantees them equal protection. No individual shall be the object of discrimination for reasons of his origin, his race, his ethnic group, his colour, his language, his social status, his religious, philosophical or political convictions or because of a physical or mental disability, or because he has HIV/AIDS or any other incurable disease ». To implement this provision and in view of the socio-political and historical situation that Burundi had experienced, a Peace and Reconciliation Agreement had been signed in August 2000 and certain