Chapter 1 Introduction | 35 44. 45. 46. 47. 37 38 39 40 the State, so that the Plan can contribute to the respect and guarantee of the human rights of all people in the Dominican Republic. The Commission welcomes the legislative and administrative measures that have been being taken by the Dominican State to prevent and eliminate all forms of racial discrimination, particularly stands out: a) the classification of discrimination as an offence in the Criminal Code; b) the cultural policy of the Ministry of Culture for 2008, vindicating the African contribution to the country, and its support for the campaign for tolerance and peaceful coexistence of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which presented the positive contributions of migrants to Dominican society; c) discontinuance of classifications such as dark-skinned Indian or light-skinned Indian in new identity documents; d) the initiative to amend the electoral law to enable Dominicans to identify themselves as “negro, mulatto"; among other measures 37. With regard to the rights of the child, the Commission recognizes the importance of various measures taken by the Dominican Republic, such as: a) the inclusion of provisions on children’s rights contained in the new Constitution; b) ratification of various instruments protecting children's rights; c) the National Plan for the Protection and Integral Attention to Early Childhood; d) the National Gender Equality and Equity Plan (2007–2017; and e) increasing the budget for education; among others 38. On the National Plan for the Protection and Integral Attention to Early Childhood, enacted under the slogan "Quisqueya Starts With You (Quisqueya Empieza Contigo)" and validated by Decree 102-13, the Commission appreciates the initiative promoted by the Presidency of the Republic, through the General Directorate of Special Programs of the President (DIGEPEP), of approving in February 2015 a plan with seven priority lines of action to support children of 0-5 years, and their families and communities39. Specifically, the Commission emphasizes the articulation of strategic actions with sectors and institutions responsible for providing health services, as well as to facilitate the enrollment in the civil registry so that these children can have their birth certificates40. In addition to this Plan, on the matter of education, the Commission stresses the allocation of 4% of GDP in pre-university education in the budgets for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015; implementing the adult literacy program "Quisqueya Learns UN, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding observations on the thirteenth and fourteenth periodic reports of the Dominican Republic, adopted by the Committee at its eighty-second session (11 February–1 March 2012), CERD/C/DOM/CO/13-14, paras. 4 and 18. UN, Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the combined third to fifth periodic reports of the Dominican Republic, CRC/C/DOM/CO/3-5, 6 March 2015, paras. 3 and 5. Decree No. 102-13 that declares of national interest the protection and comprehensive care for all people between 0 and 5 years of age and the inclusion of all children from five years to early childhood education, and created the National System protection and Comprehensive Care for Early Childhood. G. O. No. 10713 of April 25, 2013; Presidency of the Dominican Republic, 7 February 2015. Adoption of the Plan for the Year for Protection and Comprehensive Early Childhood Care. Guidelines National Protection Plan and Comprehensive Attention to Early Childhood "Quisqueya Starts With You", July 2013. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR