A/HRC/44/16 correctional institutions, and the State Assets Recovery Act (2017), the Witness Protection Act (2018) and the Protected Disclosures (Whistleblower) Act (2018), which enhanced the Government’s institutional and regulatory capacity to combat corruption. The delegation also cited two policies developed to advance the welfare of women – the National Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Policy and the five-year multisectoral National Action Plan for the Implementation of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Acts. 8. With regard to the implementation of recommendations related to discrimination from the second review cycle, the Government had undertaken a review of its National Stigma and Discrimination Policy in 2018, which was directed at mainstreaming gender in all sectors and eliminating all negative economic, social and cultural practices that impeded equality and equity. Guyana also highlighted the country’s programmatic response to the International Decade for People of African Descent, launched in 2015. 9. The legislative framework provided for the right to education. The high priority assigned to the education sector was visible in the tangible support provided to families of school-age children, which included uniform vouchers, free books, school meals and assistance with transportation. 10. Subsequent to the previous review, Guyana had rehabilitated 14 health facilities, while 5 were currently under construction through a Smart Hospitals Initiative. As regards HIV and sexually transmitted infections, Guyana had also expanded access to all essential prevention, control, treatment and care packages to vulnerable persons and groups. Guyana had provided wider access to sexual and reproductive health services and had launched, in 2019, a national sexual and reproductive health policy with the objective of integrating it into the national plans related to universal health coverage. The country had recorded a 60 per cent reduction in maternal deaths as a result of haemorrhage – the most common cause of maternal deaths during the past 10 years. Moreover, the delegation referred to a number of laws related to addressing gender-based violence and to the recommissioning of the National Task Force for the Prevention of Sexual Violence in 2016. The Task Force had developed a national plan of action against domestic violence and sexual offences and approved protocols for medical practitioners, police officers, the judiciary and prosecutors. 11. Guyana was also implementing the Support for the Criminal Justice System Programme to address issues related to overcrowding in the prison system. Under the Programme, the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act had been reviewed to flag for removal or modification of those offences that no longer needed to be classified as criminal or justified imprisonment as a sanction, and which could be processed efficiently without the need for formal court proceedings. In addition to those efforts, the Drug Treatment Court had been established in 2019, as a part of the Government’s commitment to reduce overcrowding in prisons and as an alternative to imprisonment. 12. The delegation emphasized the commitment of Guyana to ensuring the rights and development of indigenous peoples and their communities. The Constitution of Guyana contained express provisions for the protection, preservation and promulgation of the languages, cultural heritage and way of life of indigenous peoples. One of the main avenues through which the Government meaningfully engaged with indigenous peoples on issues affecting them was through the National Toshaos’ Council, while adhering to the principle of free, prior and informed consent, in accordance with international law instruments, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007). 13. The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and the Indigenous Peoples’ Commission had also held a number of workshops to share information on the Amerindian Land Titling Project and the procedures for acquiring land ownership certificates. That work had advanced the efforts of Guyana on land titling in the context of the Amerindian Act of 2006. 14. While the death penalty still existed in law, the country was de facto abolitionist. There had been no executions in more than two decades. Furthermore, the State had limited the scope of application of the death penalty and, in 2010, the Criminal Law (Offences) Act had been amended to eliminate the mandatory death sentence for murder. 3