A/HRC/37/16 Government had continued to promote awareness-raising campaigns and encourage the reporting of hate crimes. 18. Draft law No. 1729 prohibiting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender “propaganda” had been withdrawn from the parliament, and the Labour Code had been amended in 2015 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment and occupation. In 2016, the Ministry of Health had abolished Order No. 60, which had required extensive psychiatric observation of transgender people before they underwent gender reassignment surgery. In 2016 and 2017, the Equality March had taken place peacefully in Kyiv under the protection of the national police. 19. The delegation stressed that Ukraine would continue to engage in inclusive dialogue with society to ensure that no group, including Roma, was marginalized or discriminated against. The national strategy on Roma integration had been implemented, extra efforts had been made to improve the documentation of the Roma population, and school attendance of Roma children had increased significantly. 20. Recent developments in gender equality included the approval of the national action plan to implement Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security; the establishment of a commissioner for gender equality, ensuring coordination within the Government on gender-related policies; the adoption of the Law on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men; the adoption of the Law on political parties, giving incentives to parties reaching a one-third gender quota in their party list; and the Law on local elections, providing for a gender quota of 30 per cent. The Ministry of Defence had increased, in 2016, the number of combat positions open to women, and the Ministry of Health had announced, in 2017, its intention to abolish Regulation No. 256, which listed 450 professions prohibited for women. Finally, gender-responsive budgeting had been integrated for the first time in the strategy for the management of public finances for the period 2017–2021. 21. In 2016, the Constitutional Court had ruled unconstitutional the legal provisions requiring prior approval for peaceful assemblies. In 2016, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe experts had assessed positively the two draft laws regulating the right to peaceful assembly currently registered with the parliament. 22. In 2015, the Law on strengthening the guarantees of legitimate professional activity of journalists had established as a criminal offence obstructing journalists’ activities. The council for the protection of the professional activities of journalists and freedom of expression had carried out monitoring in that regard since 2016. The delegation underlined that in Crimea, freedom of the media had been significantly suppressed, including through the placement of journalists on the list of “terrorists and extremists”, and the raiding of the house of a journalist and his conviction on charges of making calls for separatism. 23. The delegation reiterated the State’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2016 the national baseline report had been approved, adapting 17 Sustainable Development Goals to the national development context. B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review 24. During the interactive dialogue, 70 delegations made statements. Recommendations made during the dialogue are to be found in section II of the present report. 25. Estonia noted with appreciation the State’s efforts in tackling the very difficult problems caused by the current situation in eastern Ukraine and in Crimea. It welcomed the Law on the rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons, and urged Ukraine to continue to investigate the serious violations and abuses perpetrated during the Maidan protests and the violence in Odessa. 26. Finland commended Ukraine for the reform work it had started, following the Maidan protests, on eradicating corruption and reforming the judiciary; however, that development needed to be strengthened. Finland encouraged Ukraine to revise the Labour 4