A/HRC/34/10 public, a political party or civil society could freely provide information against any nominee. 15. The delegation also noted that the country’s Constitution guaranteed rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression. The Government had continued to advocate for a strong, vibrant and responsible free press, freedom of speech and broad participation. Ongoing efforts were made to ensure that the people of Uganda understood that in enjoying their rights, they were under the obligation to act in accordance with the law. 16. Non-governmental and civil society organizations had played an increasingly large role in the life of the country. It was, therefore, crucial that their operations were transparent and streamlined and that they could be held fully accountable. The NonGovernmental Organizations Act, 2016, had been adopted to address those concerns and to ensure that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) always operated in full accordance with their respective mandates. It was also important to stress that most of the provisions of the Act reflected views expressed by NGOs themselves. Furthermore, the Act provided for representation of NGOs at various levels of decision-making — for example, on the National NGO Board (two out of seven members), on district-level committees and at local community level. The Act also provided for mechanisms for redress. 17. As for the human rights situation since the first peer review, Uganda had adopted the Second National Development Plan (2015/16-2019/20) as a development framework for the next five years. The formulation of the Plan had been guided by a rights-based approach to development. It was, therefore, a major policy tool integrating human rights and development issues. Any external development support given to Uganda must be aligned with the country’s National Development Plan. 18. Uganda had held presidential, general parliamentary and local government council elections in February 2016. Despite a few administrative challenges at the outset, on the whole those elections had been held in a free and fair manner, and their outcome had reflected the will of the majority of the country’s people. The Government was committed to ensuring that the recommendations made by the Supreme Court in connection with a petition it had received, together with other proposals to be made by the Ugandan people on constitutional reforms, were handled by a constitutional review commission that would be established for that purpose. 19. The Government had taken note of recommendations made by various election observers on some aspects of the elections. It had reiterated its commitment to implementing the recommendations that, in the Government’s opinion, contributed to the advancement of democracy in Uganda. B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review 20. During the interactive dialogue, 82 delegations made statements. Recommendations made during the dialogue are to be found in section II of the present report. 21. Canada welcomed the efforts made by Uganda to prevent violence against women and girls, including the criminalization of female genital mutilation, domestic violence and trafficking in persons. It remained concerned by restrictions on civil society, opposition parties and the media. 22. Chile welcomed the country’s adoption of laws to prevent and prohibit torture and combat domestic violence. Uganda was to be commended for the adoption of a national development plan incorporating the Sustainable Development Goals. 5