A/HRC/45/54 7. The first case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Georgia was confirmed on 26 February 2020. The President of Georgia declared a state of emergency on 21 March 2020, which was then extended on 21 April until 23 May. The Government promptly notified the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the declaration and extension of the state of emergency and of consequent derogations from certain obligations of Georgia under articles 9, 12, 17 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.7 The President of Georgia explicitly committed to guaranteeing freedom of the media and freedom of expression during the state of emergency. In view of the measures adopted in a timely manner by the authorities and the tireless efforts of health professionals, Georgia recorded one of the lowest per capita rates of infection in the regions of Europe and Central Asia.8 III. Technical assistance by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and human rights developments 8. The OHCHR Senior Human Rights Adviser, deployed in Tbilisi since 2007, continued to provide technical assistance to the Government and institutions of Georgia, civil society organizations and other actors. A. Support for the implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan 9. The Senior Human Rights Adviser continued to focus on supporting the compliance of legislation, policies and practices with international human rights norms and standards, and on the implementation of the National Human Rights Strategy (2014–2020) and the National Human Rights Action Plan (2018–2020). Along with other United Nations entities, OHCHR provided support for the ongoing implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan, including under the framework of the Human Rights for All programme.9 Such support involved building the capacity of various national counterparts, including the Human Rights Secretariat in the Administration of the Government of Georgia, 10 the Offices of the Public Defender and the State Inspector, judges and court staff, police officers, legal professionals, journalists and civil society (including students and youth groups). OHCHR is also supporting the Human Rights Secretariat in developing the next National Human Rights Strategy, tentatively for 2021–2030. 10. During the reporting period, OHCHR conducted 19 capacity-building activities in Georgia and developed materials on the following issues: obligations of State authorities in investigating allegations of crimes related to the deprivation of life, and torture and other forms of ill-treatment; effective protection of human rights during investigative actions such as secret surveillance and communication tapping; gender identity and the obligations of State authorities; and specific measures for the execution of decisions/judgments delivered by bodies of the United Nations and the Council of Europe on cases related to effective investigations in Georgia. 7 8 9 10 4 Notification No. 19/9860 (of 21 March 2020) and notification No. 19/11359 (of 22 April 2020), available at https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CN/2020/CN.125.2020-Eng.pdf and https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CN/2020/CN.142.2020-Eng.pdf respectively. See, for example, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, “COVID-19 weekly surveillance report: data for the week of 25–31 May 2020”, available at www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/445920/Week-22-COVID-19-surveillancer-eporteng.pdf. A joint United Nations initiative funded by the European Union and, more recently, by the Government of Norway. To ensure continuity of operations and day-to-day support for the Inter-Agency Council for Human Rights, the Human Rights Secretariat is established as a structural unit at the Administration of the Government of Georgia. The Council is responsible for developing and implementing a uniform State policy of the Government of Georgia in the field of human rights protection.