A/HRC/41/11 9. The creation of an environment conducive to media freedom had been one of the main goals of the current Government. Of the 12 cases relating to physical and verbal threats against journalists recorded by the Ministry of the Interior in 2018, criminal charges had been instituted against the perpetrators in 7 cases, while investigations were still ongoing in 5 cases. 10. One of the strategic priorities of the Government had been the full implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. A set of guarantees for full protection of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of all communities in the country had been established. 11. A working group to plan, coordinate and monitor the Strategy for the Roma had been established, composed of members from competent institutions and civil society organizations representing the interests of the Roma community. Following a public call for the registration of persons not entered in the birth register, 670 persons had been identified. A draft law on a special administrative procedure had been prepared, with a view to enabling unregistered persons to enjoy their fundamental human rights. 12. In that connection, it was worth noting that the number of scholarships for Roma secondary education students had continued to increase. 13. Regarding the protection of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, the new law on the prevention of and protection against discrimination, which was currently before the parliament, introduced sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds of discrimination. 14. The promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in conformity with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was also among the priorities of the Government. The Convention had recently been translated into Macedonian sign language for persons with a hearing impairment. 15. The National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2018–2020 focused on establishing an effective system for achieving gender equality through functional support mechanisms at the national and local levels, the harmonization of indicators for measuring progress on gender equality and the provision of gender-disaggregated statistics. 16. The National Action Plan foresaw measures to integrate gender-responsive budgeting in policy and programme development; to sensitize the public to the various forms of violence against women; to strengthen institutional capacities for taking action to protect victims; to enhance gender equality in priority thematic areas, such as health care, education and employment; to build a culture of equal opportunity; and to promote equal treatment and non-discrimination on grounds of gender. 17. To address domestic violence, in December 2018, as part of the activities under the National Action Plan for the Implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), preparation of a new law on gender-based violence had begun. 18. In addition, steps had been taken to combat human trafficking and to improve the health sector, in particular with regard to advancing sexual and reproductive rights. 19. Broad consultations had been held in the preparation of a draft bill on the national census, which had been submitted for public debate. The draft had received no negative comments. 20. With regard to the machinery to follow up on the recommendations of international human rights bodies, the Interministerial Human Rights Body acted as the national mechanism for reporting and follow-up and was tasked with coordinating the national human rights policy response to the recommendations of the universal periodic review, the United Nations treaty bodies and the special procedure mandate holders. 3