A/HRC/45/56 consequence of COVID-19. Acts of discrimination were documented against Cham persons (a largely Muslim ethnic minority), following a spate of infections in Cambodia that were linked to a religious event attended by some Cham in Malaysia. The Government affirmed its commitment to providing public health services in an inclusive and equitable manner. This is compounded by an absence of specific laws addressing hate speech and hate crimes, and of an anti-discrimination law. OHCHR released a series of social media posts addressing discrimination, xenophobia and stigma in the context of COVID-19. D. Economic and social rights in the context of COVID-19 57. The Government took certain positive steps to address the COVID-19 pandemic. It formed a National Committee on COVID-19 and an Interministerial Committee to Combat COVID-19, and has launched a National Master Plan for COVID-19. It adopted economic stimulus measures, including a cash transfer programme for the poor, conducted community awareness campaigns, issued daily press releases, and carried out weekly press conferences, and the Ministry of Health set up a COVID-19 hotline. The Government cancelled the Khmer New Year holidays (13 to 15 April 2020) and introduced an associated ban on travel between provinces from 9 to 16 April 2020. On 17 April 2020, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training announced that an estimated 30,000 factory workers who had travelled between provinces despite the ban would be required to self-quarantine for 14 days. Ten makeshift quarantine facilities were set up in Phnom Penh schools to accommodate workers who were COVID-19 symptomatic or were unable to selfquarantine. 58. While acknowledging these efforts, OHCHR notes a lack of available information on key aspects of the Government’s COVID-19 preparedness and health response, including dedicated medical facilities, quarantine protocols, specialist medical staff, and availability of essential equipment. COVID-19 testing has also been limited and tightly restricted, and the extent to which rural, vulnerable and marginalized communities have had access to it remains unclear. 59. OHCHR offered technical assistance to the Government with the aim of ensuring that its COVID-19 response aligned with its human rights obligation to take all necessary steps to prevent, treat and control the disease, as a component of the right to health. In a letter to the Ministry of Health dated 15 April 2020, OHCHR requested the Government to take active steps and to introduce special measures to protect groups in situations of particular vulnerability to COVID-19, including indigenous peoples and minorities. VI. Gender and LGBTI rights A. Rights of women and girls 60. OHCHR Cambodia sustained its efforts to advance the rights of women and girls, and was one of the first two OHCHR country offices to receive gender accreditation under the Gender Accreditation Programme.29 The programme, which comprises three levels of accreditation, examines the gender equality culture, practices, and achievements of OHCHR country offices, and offers tools to strengthen their performance. 61. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considered the sixth periodic report of Cambodia (CEDAW/C/KHM/6) on 29 October 2019 and issued its concluding observations (CEDAW/C/KHM/CO/6) on 12 November 2019. The United Nations country team developed a set of advocacy points to take forward the implementation of select concluding observations of the Committee. 29 12 United Nations Human Rights Report 2019 (May 2020), available at www2.ohchr.org/english/OHCHRreport2019, p. 79.