A/HRC/42/2 granting of freedom of assembly and expression, Qatar had rejected over a third. It asserted that it was overdue that Qataris were given the opportunity to express their own ideas and would be granted full freedom of religion or belief. 883. Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights stated that Qatar had been targeting opponents by forceful detention, intimidation and harassment, as well as through retaliation and discrimination against women and migrant workers. Although Qatar had acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it stated that Qatar was still violating these rights systematically. It called upon Qatar to amend its emergency legislation, especially regarding citizenship, and labour laws, carry out amendments to safeguard participation of citizens and residents in public life, ensure public freedoms, and grant rights to migrant workers. 884. United Nations Watch welcomed the recommendation calling on Qatar to stop providing financial and moral support to terrorist groups and to stop giving platforms to terrorist groups to spread their extremist ideologies. It stated that Qatar must stop providing a safe haven to terrorists and that it joined all peace-loving States who rightfully reject any form of apologetics for terror. It noted that Qatar had recently acceded to 1997 and 1999 international counterterrorism conventions, and urged all United Nations Member States to ensure compliance. 885. The Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health stated that it was crucial that the law grant women equal rights to men in passing their nationality to their children and spouses. While Qatar had enacted legislation allowing most migrants to leave the country without an exit permit, it must also include certain other categories of workers, including those in the military, public sector, and domestic work. It recommended taking further measures, including by amending the Citizen Law and establishing mechanisms to protect migrants. 886. Villages Unis commended Qatar for acceding to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, establishing a support and insurance fund for migrant workers, and for its policy to support and empower women through the Second National Development Strategy 2018-2022, including social protection. It noted that, in 2017, the gender equality index for education stood at 95.3 per cent and the literacy rate at 98.8 per cent, and the representation of women in decision-making positions stood at 30 per cent. 887. The United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation commended Qatar for its acceptance of the majority of universal periodic review recommendations; for its accession to a number of international instruments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the International Covenants on Civil Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and for efforts in the promotion and protection of human rights, especially the rights of migrant workers. The abolition of the sponsorship kafala law was an important step towards a substantial reform of the system of employers granting workers a permission to exit the country. 5. Concluding remarks of the State under review 888. The Vice-President stated that, based on the information provided, out of 270 recommendations received, 178 enjoyed the support of Qatar, and 93 were noted. 889. Qatar indicated that the universal periodic review is a useful and important mechanism, not only in terms of its contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights within the country under review, but also in terms of sharing good practices that can help other countries to improve their human rights records. 890. Based on this conviction, Qatar ensured that its last review would be an opportunity for dialogue with all States as well as with non-governmental organizations in a transparent 129