A/HRC/39/51 a consultation process for indigenous peoples had been considered in the preparation of draft legislation for establishing a ministry of indigenous peoples and a council of indigenous people. Norway reported that the indigenous peoples’ assembly, the Sámeddigi (Sami Parliament), was involved in the follow-up and review of implementation of the 2030 Agenda, through dialogue with line ministries and formal consultation mechanisms. 51. Countries also reported on institutional mechanisms and policies that had been put in place to enhance gender equality and women and girls’ rights. The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina reported on its national Law on Gender Equality, which created a gender equality agency operating within the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, to monitor and examine violations of that law perpetrated by an act or action or failure to act of a body or legal entity, and take action to remedy them in accordance with that law. A software platform was set up to regulate data collection and the processing and exchange of information relating to the monitoring of the human rights situation, and especially the cases of discrimination, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees. An integral part of that database was the data on discrimination cases, gathered in accordance with the Rulebook on Gathering the Data on Cases of Discrimination in Bosnia and Herzegovina.45 At the institutional level, numerous States (Afghanistan, Guatemala, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama, Thailand, Uruguay and Zimbabwe) noted the work of their ministries of women’s affairs or gender equality commissions. Chile mentioned the establishment of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality as one of the main advances with regard to the promotion of women’s rights. Ethiopia reported on the establishment of an office with ministerial rank for guiding and implementing women’s affairs. A large number of countries reported on other measures, including national gender equality strategies or gender action plans. For example, Belarus adopted its fifth national plan on promoting gender equality for 2017–2020 and planned activities that were informed by national gender priorities, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Sustainable Development Goal 5. 52. Many countries emphasized the importance of gender mainstreaming and measures taken to integrate a gender perspective into each policy area and each phase of the policymaking process, including gender-responsive budgeting. Indonesia reported on the enactment of special regulations on gender mainstreaming and gender-responsive planning and budgeting, while Maldives had appointed gender focal points in line ministries and agencies to promote gender mainstreaming. Guatemala drew attention to its special spending mechanism, which aimed to contribute to the visibility of budgetary resources to promote gender equity and, in particular, to identify allocations that benefited women and girls. 53. More than half of the countries reporting under the voluntary national review reported on measures taken to address the low participation of women in decision-making. Countries reported on adopting quota systems or quota laws (Chile, Indonesia, Jordan, Panama, Slovenia, Uruguay and Zimbabwe) and capacity-building programmes for women running for elective office (Belize and Kenya), in order to increase participation of women in decision-making or leadership positions. The Republic of Korea initiated the Framework Act on Gender Equality (2015), which, among other measures, introduced quotas for administrative positions in public organizations and promoted the participation of women in decision-making processes and in public, political and economic activities. The Republic of Korea focused on cross-cutting programmes linking gender equality with education and good health, such as “The better life for girls” initiative that focused on girls’ education and health in developing countries and built on the fact that education and health were inherently connected in order to promote girls’ empowerment. 54. France reported that its High Council for Gender Equality reported directly to the Prime Minister and had, since 2013, been holding discussions with stakeholders to draw up and improve public policy guidelines on rolling back stereotypes, gender equality, reproductive rights and gender-based violence. 45 16 Submission of 5 March 2018.

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