A/HRC/40/16 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, held its thirty-first session from 5 to 16 November 2018. The review of the Congo was held at the 15th meeting, on 14 November 2018. The delegation of the Congo was headed by Jean-Claude Gakosso, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Congolese Abroad. At its 18th meeting, held on 16 November 2018, the Working Group adopted the report on the Congo. 2. On 10 January 2018, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of the Congo: Côte d’Ivoire, Spain and Ukraine. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21, the following documents were issued for the review of the Congo: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/31/COG/1); (b) A compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/31/COG/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/31/COG/3). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Belgium, Brazil, Liechtenstein, Portugal, on behalf of the Group of Friends on national implementation, reporting and follow-up, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was transmitted to the Congo through the troika. These questions are available on the website of the universal periodic review. I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. The head of the Congolese delegation said that the national report to the third cycle of the universal periodic review had been prepared in accordance with the OHCHR guidance note. It described the implementation of the recommendations accepted during the second cycle and presented the measures taken and progress made in that regard. A validation workshop had been held with all State stakeholders and with civil society, which had been involved from the beginning of the process. 6. Since the second cycle of the universal periodic review, the Congo had improved its normative framework by ratifying the following instruments: the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. The ratification processes for the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment were ongoing. 7. Since 2014, the following reports had been presented: a report on implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, three reports on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the seventh report on implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. 8. On a regional level, the Congo enjoyed cooperation and technical support from the Subregional Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa. 9. The Congo had launched an extensive project to amend a number of codes in order to harmonize its national legislation with duly ratified international legal instruments on 2 GE.18-22821