A/HRC/34/9 sanctions. There had been a paradigm shift, moving from the use of deprivation of liberty as a primary penalty to alternative sanctions. 71. In 2009, a number of important amendments to the Criminal Code had been adopted concerning hate crimes. Several training events on legal instruments prohibiting racial discrimination had been organized for public officials. In 2015, a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the Police Department and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on training programmes for police officers on combating hate crime and the application of the relevant provisions of the Criminal Code. A project entitled “Innovative development of intercultural competences for police officers”, focusing on equality and non-discrimination, had been implemented in 2013 and 2014 by the Vilnius office of the International Organization for Migration and the Police Department. In 2011 and 2012, two other police training courses had been conducted, entitled “Peculiarities of communication with victims” and “Promotion of nondiscrimination: implementation of equal opportunities policy”. In 2013 and 2014, the Office of the Prosecutor General, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Bar Association, had implemented the HELP anti-discrimination training programme for prosecutors and lawyers based on relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights. 72. Hate crimes that occurred in Lithuania included racially, ethnically, nationally and religiously motived offences, xenophobic, anti-Semitic and homophobic incidents, and hate speech. The number of registered offences had declined, which was attributable to the improved skills of law enforcement officers, preventive measures such as dissemination in the media of information concerning investigations of hate crimes and relevant court decisions, and the organization of anti-discrimination programmes by public institutions and NGOs. 73. Lithuania strongly supported the work of human rights NGOs and attributed much importance to cooperation between the Government and those organizations. The National Equality and Diversity Forum, created in 2010, brought together NGOs engaged in combating discrimination against vulnerable groups and discrimination based on gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, and racial or ethnic origin. In January 2015, the Government had adopted the Inter-institutional Action Plan on Nondiscrimination for 2015-2020. The objectives of the Action Plan were to reduce discrimination on the aforementioned grounds by public awareness-raising, enhance respect, promote the work of human rights defenders operating in the area of nondiscrimination and equality, and support the annual National Equality and Diversity Awards. 74. National legislation afforded protection against inequality and discrimination. The new Labour Code enshrined the principles of equality of opportunities, equal treatment of men and women in employment, and equal pay for work of equal value. The principle of respect for employees’ family responsibilities had also been enshrined in national legislation. Employers were required to respect employees’ right to return, after maternity, paternity or parental leave, to the same post or to an equivalent post with no less favourable working conditions. Furthermore, greater flexibility was offered to mothers and fathers who wished to engage in part-time work by providing for flexible or individual working hours. Thus, the new legislation required employers to assist employees in fulfilling their family responsibilities. 75. With a view to achieving gender equality at the local level, training programmes for employers had been organized by NGOs together with the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. Under the new national legislation, employers in workplaces where the average number of employees exceeded 50 were required to adopt and publish measures aimed at implementing the equal opportunities policy. 11