A/HRC/41/13 Persons with Disabilities. It urged Slovakia to continue working on the protection of the rights of children. 49. Eritrea recognized the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations accepted during the second cycle. It commended Slovakia for its adoption of the national strategies for the protection and promotion of human rights, for gender equality and for Roma integration. 50. Finland commended Slovakia for its strong anti-discrimination legislation. It noted, however, that there was a need to monitor the legislation’s implementation and enhance the awareness of both citizens and the administration on its contents and implications. 51. France welcomed the very satisfactory human rights situation in Slovakia and encouraged the State to further strengthen respect for human rights. 52. Georgia expressed appreciation of the voluntary pledges and commitments made by Slovakia to the Human Rights Council for 2018–2020 and welcomed the implementation of national strategies and plans in various areas of human rights, particularly the national strategy for the protection and promotion of human rights. 53. Germany acknowledged the increasing participation of Roma in national, regional and local elections and welcomed the explicit recognition of crimes against Roma. It was concerned about discrimination against Roma and about persistent hate speech, particularly against minorities, including Muslims and non-citizens. 54. Greece commended the adoption of the national strategies for the protection of children from violence and for gender equality, as well as the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women 2014–2019. 55. The delegation of Slovakia stated that the State had established an interministerial mechanism for the follow-up of the recommendations from the universal periodic review, which worked in consultation with civil society. In 2015, the Ministry of Justice had been assigned important responsibilities related to human rights, including coordination of the implementation of national policies related to human rights, while various ministries were responsible for the implementation of those policies. 56. The Government had adopted an action plan on the prevention of all forms of discrimination for the period 2016–2019 to strengthen the implementation of the AntiDiscrimination Act and to support the efforts of public organizations and non-governmental organizations in combating discrimination. The Slovak National Centre for Human Rights analysed the Act and put forward several recommendations on how to improve it. 57. Despite the fact that a draft action plan on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons had ultimately not been adopted, the ministries had been implementing several activities envisaged in the plan. The Criminal Code provided for protection against hate crime and hate speech on the grounds of sexual orientation. An expert committee on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, which was composed of government and non-governmental entities, had been working on policies to ensure equality for persons of that community. 58. The Ministry of Justice, in coordination with the Council of Europe, had been implementing a large-scale project to improve the efficiency of the judiciary. The Ministry had established working groups on some priority issues related to the judiciary. The appointment procedure for judges had been reformed. 59. The National Action Plan for the Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women 2014–2019 had been drafted in accordance with the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), despite the fact that Slovakia had not yet ratified the Convention. Amendments to several legal instruments had improved provisions for the protection of victims of domestic violence, including by extending the period covered by an expulsion order from 48 hours to up to 10 days. An important step was the establishment of a centre to coordinate the national response to gender-based and domestic violence, and a free, 24-hour helpline for women experiencing violence. 6