A/HRC/40/14 the number of trained teachers at preschool, primary and secondary levels. Furthermore, the subsidy grants and secondary school financing reform, aimed at allocating financial resources for secondary school students with socioeconomic needs, had benefited students from the poorest regions and had been further expanded in 2018. 18. Regarding the empowerment of women, the Government had been implementing the national gender policy and had established committees on gender issues and gender-based violence at the national and district levels. Nonetheless, more needed to be done in the area of women’s representation in the public sector. In that regard, under the auspices of the National Women’s Commission, the “women in politics project” aimed to build confidence and improve the capacity of women to participate in the political process at the highest level. Since its launch in 2010, a total of 98 women had received training on issues pertaining to politics and national development. 19. The Office of the Special Envoy for Women and Children had contributed to raising visibility and awareness regarding children with special needs, leading in 2014 to the establishment of the “Inspiration Centre” to provide low-cost comprehensive therapy and medical services. The Government had also provided grants to civil society organizations and the Ministry of Human Development had distributed direct cash assistance to persons with disabilities and involved them in various initiatives. Additionally, the National Council on Ageing was about to launch, with the support of stakeholders, a national campaign to establish a permanent priority service line for all essential services. 20. Belize continued to recognize the important role that indigenous communities played in the definition of the country’s cultural identity. Belize had taken a number of steps to implement the consent order of the Caribbean Court of Justice on the land rights of the Maya people in the Toledo district, including the establishment of the Toledo Maya Lands Rights Commission and the Bilateral Technical Committee, as well as the development of a work plan jointly with all affected persons. Additionally, the Government had prepared a draft customary land tenure policy and developed a reporting and dispute resolution framework to address complaints that could arise from the implementation of the consent order. 21. Belize was also working on a comprehensive migration policy that would, inter alia, decriminalize irregular migration. It had also re-established the Refugee Eligibility Committee and the Refugee Department in order to increase the efficiency of the asylum requests processing system. As of February 2018, Belize had officially accepted 28 refugees. 22. In conclusion, the delegation stressed that, despite its limited resources, Belize was proud to continue investing in the social and economic development of the country and was determined to continue pursuing the realization of human rights for all. B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review 23. During the interactive dialogue, 46 delegations made statements. Recommendations made during the dialogue are to be found in section II of the present report. 24. The Netherlands commended Belize on its efforts to decrease gender-based violence and provide better support to victims through their national gender-based violence plan. It also complimented the efforts made by the National Women’s Commission on promoting gender equality. The Netherlands remained concerned about several aspects of sexual and reproductive rights and sexual orientation and gender identity. 25. Paraguay stated that during the second cycle of the universal periodic review it had recommended that Belize ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness of 1961. It noted with satisfaction that Belize had ratified or acceded to those and other international human rights instruments. Paraguay noted with concern that the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families had proceeded to examine the situation in Belize with respect to the implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in 4