A/HRC/41/4 102. Barbados commended New Zealand for the initiatives undertaken by its International Human Rights Governance Group to spearhead work related to the country’s monitoring of and reporting on human rights. 103. Belarus noted with satisfaction the adoption of the National Plan of Action for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, as well as measures to combat human trafficking, which included national plans and improvements to legislation. 104. Belgium congratulated the Government on the development of the National Plan of Action for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights but indicated that further progress could be achieved in combating discrimination and gender-based violence. 105. Benin congratulated New Zealand on progress achieved in the promotion and protection of human rights and on the implementation of recommendations from the previous cycle. 106. Botswana commended New Zealand for establishing the Ministry for Children and enacting the Vulnerable Children Act. Botswana noted legislative reforms, including the amendment of the Human Rights Act. 107. Brazil commended New Zealand for protecting the Bill of Rights Act by enabling senior courts to assess the consistency of ordinary laws with fundamental rights, and for adopting the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016–2026. 108. Bulgaria commended the high level of women’s representation and the trend towards 50 per cent representation of women among senior leaders in the public service, and highlighted the child-centred approach of the Ministry for Children. 109. Canada urged New Zealand to provide additional funding to community groups and to refuges for women victims of violence, and to invest efforts in the prevention of violence, specifically by promoting the involvement of men and boys. 110. Chile commended progress made to promote and protect human rights in New Zealand, particularly through institutional reforms and national legislation, and the implementation of recommendations accepted in the previous review cycle. 111. China welcomed progress achieved in the protection of human rights by New Zealand. China was concerned about the discrimination suffered by the Māori, and the fact that the rights of women, children and migrants were not effectively protected. 112. Croatia observed that there were over 100,000 New Zealanders of Croatian heritage today and noted that Croatian immigrants had been welcomed and integrated in the country, constituting a good example of tolerance and human rights promotion. 113. Cuba noted that the national report highlighted progress made by New Zealand in updating its human rights infrastructure and institutions, and had also identified existing challenges, particularly regarding the standard of living of the Māori and gender equality. 114. With regard to comments on the human rights framework, the delegation recalled that New Zealand implemented its human rights obligations through a mixture of legislation, administrative measures and common law. Though the country did not have a written constitution, it had strong institutions and strong conventions that supported existing laws. 115. The Bill of Rights Act enjoyed very important status, with the courts checking legislation for its consistency with that instrument. One of the changes that the Government had pledged to make was to ensure that when a court declared a piece of legislation to be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights, Parliament would have to respond in an appropriate way. The Government intended to amend the Human Rights Act to make it clear that Act prohibited discrimination on the grounds of gender identity. It was also noted that changes had been made to ensure that the Human Rights Review Tribunal received additional staffing to help it eliminate its backlog and keep up with its workload. 116. Unratified human rights instruments were regularly reviewed by the Government and such action would continue in the light of recommendations received. Moreover, the National Plan of Action for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights had included all 10