A/HRC/43/2 3. General comments made by other stakeholders 548. During the adoption of the outcome of the review of Fiji, four other stakeholders made statements. 549. The International Planned Parenthood Federation thanked Fiji for its willingness to engage in an open and constructive dialogue with civil society throughout the universal periodic review process. It celebrated the commitment of Fiji to strengthen measures to protect victims of violence against women and girls through the full implementation of relevant legislation and awareness raising campaigns. It was pleased with the commitment of Fiji to improve access to health services for vulnerable populations, inclusive mental health services and sexual and reproductive health services. It welcomed the acceptance of the recommendations to implement national programmes and policies to improve education and health systems for women, children and persons with disabilities. It thanked Fiji for the work undertaken in partnership with UNFPA to revise the current family life curriculum and recommended that it be aligned with the international technical guidelines for sexuality education and that a national budget be allocated for its implementation in both mainstream and special schools. While the revised family life education curriculum was yet to be finalized, it stated that the Reproductive and Family Health Association of Fiji willingly offered itself as a partner to assist the Ministry of Education in training of trainers of teachers to provide the updated family life education and to assist mainstream and special schools in the delivery of the curriculum. This was an important tool in strengthening the work of the Government to address violence against women and girls, as well as in contributing to the reduction of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections amongst young people. 550. The International Service for Human Rights welcomed the acceptance by Fiji of recommendations from Switzerland and Albania relating to human rights defenders and stated that, since the second cycle of the universal periodic review, conditions had improved. Human rights defenders now operated in a relatively free environment. It stated that nevertheless there were reports of peaceful protestors being arbitrarily arrested and journalists harassed and intimidated. The rights to freedom of expression and assembly continued to be limited and more needed to be done to ensure an enabling environment for defenders. It echoed recommendations that Fiji repeal laws and policies that restrict the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, assembly and association, including sections of the Public Order Act Amendment Decree, the Media Industry Development Decree, the 2014 Electoral Decree and the Online Safety Bill. It also highlighted the rights of defenders working for the promotion and protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, and urged Fiji to incorporate sexual orientation into anti-discrimination laws and take measures to reduce the targeting and harassment of these defenders. 551. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative urged Fiji to implement the recommendations concerning the promotion and protection of the rights of the child, including the ratification of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and finalizing the adoption of the national action plan. It strongly recommended that Fiji develop a national strategy to address violence, discrimination and hate crimes against the LGBTQI community and to increase the budgetary allocation towards strengthening participation of marginalized communities, including persons with disabilities in times of natural disasters. It stated that it wanted a Fiji that guaranteed fundamental freedoms and respect for journalists and human rights defenders. This included recasting all laws restricting freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association, such as the Media Industry Development Act, Public Order Amendment Act, and sedition provisions under the Crimes Act. It stated that it wanted the Government to commit to mitigating impacts of extractive mining through monitoring policy implementation, specifically the environmental impact assessment, effectively providing environmental, social and economic safeguards for 88