E/C.12/PAK/CO/1 constitutional rank equal to that of civil and political rights and to ensure that all these rights are applied by the domestic courts at all levels. It also recommends that the State party enhance training for judges, lawyers and public officials on the Covenant. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 9 (1998) on the domestic application of the Covenant. Devolution of powers 7. The Committee notes that, through the eighteenth amendment to the Constitution, some powers of the federal government have been devolved to provincial and territorial governments, particularly in the areas of employment, social security, housing, health care and education. The Committee is concerned at the low and varying levels of financial and administrative capacity of the provincial and territorial governments, as well as at the lack of coordination between the federal and the provincial and territorial governments, which affect the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and result in substantial geographical disparities. 8. The Committee recommends that the State party take all measures necessary to strengthen the financial and administrative capacity of the provincial and territorial governments and to improve coordination among governments with a view to ensuring that people in the State party, regardless of their place of residence, enjoy Covenant rights on an equal basis, particularly in the areas of employment, social security, housing, health care and education. Data collection 9. While appreciating the efforts to update the national census, the Committee is concerned at the lack of data at the federal, provincial and territorial levels on people’s enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights in the country. 10. The Committee recommends that the State party take all measures necessary to improve its data-collection system, including its national census, with a view to collecting comprehensive and comparative data, which would make it possible to assess the level of enjoyment of Covenant rights, particularly by disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups. It also recommends that the State party provide, in its next periodic report, the comparative annual statistical data necessary to assess the progressive realization of Covenant rights and ensure that such data are disaggregated by sex, age, geographical location, disability, religion and other status. National Commission for Human Rights 11. While welcoming the establishment of the National Commission for Human Rights, the Committee is concerned that it lacks independence and does not have the capacity to effectively carry out its mandate, as it is not in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). In particular, it is concerned, despite the information provided by the State party, that a notification of the Government of 9 March 2017 has effectively brought the Commission under the supervision of the Ministry of Human Rights. It is also concerned about the letter of the Ministry of Human Rights dated 2 June 2017 denying the Commission the mandate to submit an independent report to United Nations bodies, including the treaty bodies, and about the recommendations made by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights to the Ministry in relation to the Commission’s recent engagement with a United Nations human rights treaty body. 12. The Committee urges the State party to take all measures necessary to ensure that the Commission is able to fulfil its mandate while maintaining its independence from the executive and the legislative branches of government and that the Commission is protected from interference from any organs of the State. Reminding the State party that cooperation with the United Nations human rights system, including the human rights treaty bodies, is a core function of national human rights institutions, as prescribed in the Paris Principles, it recommends that the State party ensure that the mandate and responsibilities of the Commission are in line with the 2