ANNEX I. >> M  etadata sheets on selected indicators to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at the abolition of the death penalty, in 1989; the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in 1990; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1999; the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in 2000; the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture in 2002; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2006; the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2008; and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure in 2011. A State that has signed a treaty has not expressed its consent to be bound by it. Signature is a means of authentication and expresses the willingness of the signatory State to continue the treaty-making process. The signature qualifies the signatory State to proceed to ratification, acceptance or approval. It also creates an obligation to refrain, in good faith, from acts that would defeat the object and the purpose of the treaty (see Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969). The indicator provides information on the acceptance by a State of international human rights standards and its intention or commitment to undertake steps to realize human rights in conformity with the provisions of the relevant instruments (structural indicator). It does not, however, capture actual implementation (process indicator) or its results (outcome indicator). The indicator does not reflect possible “reservations” entered by a State on a treaty. State parties can enter “reservations” on a treaty. A reservation is a declaration made by a State by which it purports to exclude or alter the legal effect of certain provisions of the treaty in their application to that State. A reservation enables a State to accept a multilateral treaty as a whole by giving it the possibility not to apply certain provisions with which it does not want to comply. Reservations can be made when the treaty is signed, ratified, accepted, approved or acceded to. Although an “ideal” indicator on the status of international human rights treaties should include different weights for different reservations, establishing objective criteria to obtain a weighting scheme may be technically difficult. Reservations should not be incompatible with the object and the purpose of the treaty (see Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties). The Human Rights Council also adopted the human rights voluntary goals (resolution 9/12) to promote the realization of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One goal is the universal ratification of the core international human rights instruments and dedication of all efforts towards the realization of the international human rights obligations of States. Indicator 2 Time frame and coverage of national policy on sexual and reproductive health [e.g., table on the right to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health] Definition  The indicator refers to the date of adoption or the period for which the national policy statement on sexual and reproductive health has been put into effect. The indicator also captures the population coverage or the geographic or administrative scope of the policy statement, such as in countries where there is a division of responsibilities between the national Government and the subnational / local governments. Rationale  A national policy statement on a subject is an instrument that is expected to outline a Government’s objectives, policy framework, strategy and/or a concrete plan of action to address issues under that subject. While providing an indication of the Government’s commitment to addressing the subject concerned, it may also provide relevant benchmarks for holding the Government 142 Human Rights Indicators