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The UK continued to invest in research, including new treatment options for drug resistant tuberculosis. Our work focuses on: improving teaching; supporting education reforms that deliver results in the classroom; and stepping up targeted support for the most marginalised. We encourage other states that have not yet done so to commit to accepting all visit requests. The imposition and use of the death penalty continued. Work is underway on 74% of commitments, and 10% of commitments are reported as already completed. Freedom of expression is essential to any functioning democracy. Those who defied the state could face imprisonment or even death. The UK will continue to provide support to countries in their efforts to realise the WPS agenda as we approach the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in October 2020. In July, the UK and 24 other countries registered their concerns about Xinjiang in a public letter to the President of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Specific examples of impact in 2019 include the Government of Nigeria, which enacted national legislation prohibiting discrimination based on disability, and the UN’s launch of a new Disability Inclusion Strategy, which is ground-breaking in its aim to embed sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion across the UN system. This included a project on enhancing the capacity of state bodies to strengthen the compliance of national legislation and law enforcement practices with international human rights treaties, and to ensure fulfilment of international human rights obligations. In May, following concerted diplomatic and public pressure, Myanmar released 2 Reuters journalists, who had been held in detention since December 2017 for reporting on alleged war crimes by the Myanmar military. In May, Eritrea’s limited internet availability was reduced further when many of the internet cafes were closed down. The resulting December 2018 report documented a culture of impunity in Chechnya. In August, President Sirisena appointed Major General Shavendra Silva as the new army commander. Our voluntary funding of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment System enhanced mission planning and decision-making, improving accountability. Torture is an abhorrent violation of human rights and human dignity, and its impact on societies and individuals is devastating. Impunity fell, albeit from a high level, helped by the improved capacity of the Attorney General’s special unit that investigates violent attacks against HRDs. The criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework, and require detailed consideration of the capabilities and impact of the equipment to be licensed. The UK used our diplomatic influence to support efforts to develop a democratic electoral model and to build political consensus. Discriminatory laws were reviewed, political prisoners were released, and exiled politicians began to return to the country. Through project funding in 2019 to 2020, we supported field assessments and outreach missions to Iraq, Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, Guatemala and Honduras. The station kept pace with the changing political landscape, covering the major changes throughout the years with a professionalism and zeal that impressed even experienced international newspeople. During 2019, the UK worked with Bahrain’s independent human rights oversight bodies, the first such organisations to be established in the region, to develop effective mechanisms to safeguard human rights in these and other cases. The UK directly supported around 450 at-risk HRDs in 2019, through training to improve protection and security, as well as legal support to fight impunity in cases of attacks. During Egypt’s UPR, the UK publicly raised its concerns regarding extended pre-trial detention, solitary confinement, blocked prison inspections, and restricted access to medical care and family visits. According to statistics issued by the Saudi Press Agency, 184 people were executed in 2019 (compared with 149 people in 2018), including the execution of 37 men on a single day. The UK supports the work of the UN’s expert human rights mechanisms, including the treaty bodies (bodies of experts set up to monitor state compliance with their human rights treaty obligations), and special procedures (expert individuals or working groups mandated by the HRC to monitor and review specific country or thematic issues). 2019 saw a deterioration in the human rights situation in some parts of the country. During Yemen’s review in January, the UK expressed concern over the human rights abuses and violations carried out by all parties to the conflict, which have resulted in civilian casualties, persecution on the grounds of religion or belief, restrictions on freedom of expression and association, restricted access to education for girls, and the continued recruitment of children to fight. A detailed analysis on Hong Kong is published separately in the UK government’s 6-monthly reports to Parliament [footnote 48] . There was also a notable pattern of abductions, intimidation, and harassment carried out by the Taliban against civilians before and during the elections, that curtailed the political rights of many and contributed to the lowest ever turnout for an Afghan election. The UK was the first country to comment publicly later that day. In November, the UNGA Third Committee passed resolutions on rights of the child, the girl child, migrant women workers, and the situation of women and girls in rural areas. The UK worked with international partners to secure stronger reference to gender issues and the prevention of sexual violence in conflict in the 2019 MONUSCO mandate renewal. The UK expressed its concern over the development through a statement by the then Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt. For example, during 2019 the UK helped to provide human rights training to 2,270 soldiers from the Somali National Army, as well as training for ‘female engagement teams’ from the African Union Mission to Somalia, to help ensure that the mission is sensitive to women and girls’ issues in its area of operations. in the absence of an authoritative government agency, preparing for formal registration in anticipation of there being an authoritative government agency that can, in future, finalise rights), improving evidence, transparency, and accountability on governance through its Land Governance for Economic Development flagship programme, working closely with domestic and international partners to drive international efforts to combat modern slavery and ensure that this effort is recognised as a global moral imperative, defending the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief for people of all faiths, beliefs, and none, and encouraging respect between different communities around the world, supporting the right of human rights defenders to carry out their work, while being able to voice their opinions freely and safely, promoting the development and strengthening of democracy, including through the work of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, opposing the death penalty and the use of torture as a matter of principle, in all circumstances, defending the right to freedom of the media and freedom of expression as essential components of any functioning democracy, leading to greater stability and prosperity, the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (, working with international partners to provide the opportunity for all girls to receive 12 years of quality education, delivering the UK government’s National Action Plan, supporting the right for all people, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity, to live with dignity, free from prejudice, violence, or discrimination, to promote 12 years of quality education for all girls, and to work to end violence against women and girls, to stand up for freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, to be at the forefront of global efforts to protect media freedom, more and better Pledges of personnel and equipment. Late spring rains led to serious food security issues for over 2 million people. The COI also documented indiscriminate attacks by proscribed terrorist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and armed opposition group Jaysh al-‘Izza, which had killed and maimed dozens of civilians in rural Aleppo and Hama. HRDs linked to the Foreign Funding Case continued to face asset freezes and travel bans. CDC has made qualifying investments that contribute £19.3 million ($25 million) to the target. In September, parliament approved the appointment of the first 2 female Supreme Court justices. Throughout the year, the UK supported initiatives at the UN on gender. There are, however, consistent reports that numerous high profile political figures remain in detention with no access to justice, some of whom have been detained for over 18 years following their criticism of the government. The elections were marred by reports of intimidation and vote rigging. The majority of these violations were associated with the response by the security services to fuel protests in January. In September, Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex launched the second paper alongside Platform Co-Chair, former Kenyan Foreign and Education Minister, Ambassador Amina Mohamed. DFID’s Girls Education Challenge programme worked to provide access to education for marginalised girls, including those who had been internally displaced. This remains a priority. DFID continued to support countries to fulfil their UHC ambitions through bilateral and multilateral investments, in June announcing that it would contribute £1.4 billion to the Sixth Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) was a priority for the UK in 2019. To celebrate Open Government Week in March, the UK organised a series of events with civil society partners, such as the Open Contracting Partnership, and Global Witness and Transparency International, and held the first UK workshop on Feminist Open Government, which has led to the development of a gender database. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, visited in September. In response to the appointment, the UN Department of Peace Operations announced in September that it would suspend future deployments of Sri Lankan peacekeepers, except where suspension would expose UN operations to serious operational risk. A disproportionate number of indigenous leaders were caught up in the violence, as different armed groups disputed local coca cultivation and drug trafficking routes. More remained to be done to ensure effective implementation, with LGBT persons continuing to face discrimination. One in 3 women worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. As of December 2019, CSSF funding had trained over 200 Libyan journalists on impartial media standards. Alongside the Canadian government, the UK hosted the first Global Conference for Media Freedom, bringing together participants from over 100 countries. DFID worked with partner governments to increase the reach, quality, domestic financing, and sustainability of their social protection systems, and supported safety nets in fragile and conflict-affected states to be more effective. We will use our membership of the CoE and OSCE as important platforms to amplify these principles, helping us advance our work on human rights, democracy, security, and the rule of law across Europe. There were credible reports of live fire against protesters and of mass arrests. In May, Korea Future Initiative released a report entitled ‘Sex Slaves: The Prostitution, Cybersex and Forced Marriage of North Korean Women and Girls in China’. List (surname) Liszt (surname) Places. The UK-supported Judicial Monitoring and Inspection Committee became fully operational, processing disciplinary complaints from the public, which led the constitutionally mandated High Judicial Commission to dismiss 2 judges on corruption charges. Changes to employment law banned workplace gender discrimination, and enforced gender equality in hiring practices. While we will not be a member of the HRC in 2020, we will continue to use our voice to support countries that are working to improve their human rights record, and to hold to account those states that violate the human rights of their people. Our participation in the KP enables us to take a leading role, alongside EU partners, in preventing the rough diamond industry from fuelling conflict. We continued to work with international partners to put pressure on the DRC Government to improve political space, confirm the release of political prisoners, recognise citizens’ right to protest peacefully, and refrain from using excessive force against protestors. Individuals expressing an opinion at variance with that of the ruling party were frequently harassed, attacked, and sometimes killed. Countries with weak health systems are vulnerable to shocks, including outbreaks of disease. The process for selecting a new president of Jubaland in August was deeply flawed. At an operational level, the UK embarked on an ambitious 5-year project (2018 to 2022) to develop a human rights-compliant detention pathway from arrest to imprisonment, working closely with both the Libyan government and NGO partners. The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs) provide guidance on responsible business practice, to mining and other extractive businesses operating in high-risk and conflict-affected areas. The Community of Democracies (CoD) is an intergovernmental coalition of states that aims to support democratic rules, expand political participation, advance and protect democratic freedoms, and strengthening democratic norms and institutions around the world. Tailored programmes of support were developed and delivered for a number of territories. The UK passed the Chairmanship of the Human Dimension Committee to the Czech Republic in 2019. The UK continued to work with advocacy groups and law makers to reform approaches to the death penalty in Indonesia, shape public debate about its use, and raise concerns over continuing cases. WFD also worked with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, a German political foundation, to help train political party polling agents, providing local partners with the skills needed to support a credible electoral process. Mr Chishti represented the UK at the seventh meeting of the Istanbul Process in The Hague on combatting religiously-motivated intolerance in November, where he stressed the importance of defending the right to FoRB globally.