A/HRC/26/4 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007, held its eighteenth session from 27 January to 7 February 2014. The review of Afghanistan was held at the 2nd meeting, on 27 January 2014. The delegation of Afghanistan was headed by Mohammad Qasim Hashemzai, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Justice. At its 10th meeting, held on 31 January 2014, the Working Group adopted the report on Afghanistan. 2. On 15 January 2014, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Afghanistan: Benin, Estonia and the United Arab Emirates. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to resolution 16/21, the following documents were issued for the review of Afghanistan: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/18/AFG/1 and Corr.1); (b) A compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/18/AFG/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/18/AFG/3 and Corr.1). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America was transmitted to Afghanistan through the troika. Those questions are available on the extranet of the universal periodic review (UPR). I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. The head of the delegation affirmed the commitment of Afghanistan to the promotion and the protection of human rights, in particular women’s and children’s rights. That commitment was evident at the national level in the provisions of the Constitution and various laws, and in policies and plans that had been enacted in accordance with the Constitution and international obligations. The Government had taken major steps to pragmatically implement human rights conventions and to prepare and present national reports on the status of their implementation. 6. Afghanistan had gone through the first UPR cycle in May 2009, and received 143 recommendations. At that time, Afghanistan had declared its support for most of those recommendations; only 10 did not enjoy its support. It had taken the recommendations seriously, undertaking a number of initiatives in various ministries and institutions in Afghanistan. To prepare the report for the second UPR cycle, the Government had established a national process, whereby civil society and human rights institutions had been involved in the process of data collection and report analysis. The report had been prepared on the basis of a plan of action the Government had created in 2012 for follow-up to the recommendations. 3