A/HRC/45/54 equipment and supplies, personal protective equipment, sanitizer and communication materials to Abkhazia, reaching the most vulnerable communities. They also facilitated online consultations, including with Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health, and the training of medical and laboratory personnel to strengthen the response to COVID-19. Rukhi hospital, a field hospital, was opened near Enguri Bridge, in Tbilisi-controlled territory, to provide medical assistance (including for COVID-19) to people transferred from Abkhazia. The Government of Georgia also made information on COVID-19 available in the Abkhazian and Ossetian languages to facilitate access to information by the populations in the two regions. From 18 to 20 March 2020, representatives and experts from the World Health Organization and the United Nations visited Abkhazia, where they examined laboratories and health-care facilities and discussed with the authorities in control preventative and mitigation measures to tackle the pandemic. Two follow-up visits were conducted to Abkhazia to monitor progress in the response to COVID-19 and to address gaps. 56. Submissions to OHCHR also underlined critical challenges in Gali in the context of the COVID-19 response, namely lack of information, inadequate protection of medical personnel, insufficient distribution of humanitarian aid, and delayed emergency responses. OHCHR was also informed that, particularly in rural areas in Abkhazia, where the medical facilities are less well equipped, populations reportedly faced delayed first-aid responses due to poor road conditions or old ambulances, and no health-care facilities were equipped to treat people with special needs. 57. The Public Defender expressed concerns over the lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services in Abkhazia and the continuing negative consequences of the complete ban on abortion introduced in 2016. According to her, this situation contributed to illegal abortions, which endangered women’s health and lives. 58. At the time of finalizing the present report, the international community had no access to South Ossetia to provide assistance to the population. According to the Government of Georgia, the authorities in control in South Ossetia removed Georgianproduced medicines from pharmacies, and patients and medical emergency vehicles from Akhalgori continued to experience difficulties in crossing the Administrative Boundary Line. 5. Right to education 59. Various submissions to OHCHR indicated continued restrictions on the use of Georgian as a language of instruction in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, particularly affecting the ethnic Georgian population living in Gali, Abkhazia, as well as in Akhalgori, Znauri and Sinaguri, South Ossetia. 60. According to the Public Defender, teaching in Georgian at the primary grades is fully banned in Gali and Akhalgori, while Georgian is taught as a foreign language in some schools in these districts. OHCHR also received information stating that the criteria for recruiting schoolteachers in Abkhazia are not based on their qualifications or experience, but on their level of Russian language. The Government of Georgia estimates that, each year, up to 5,000 schoolchildren are affected by this practice in both regions. It considers that this undermines the quality of education and may create a poorly educated generation, which would have a negative socioeconomic impact. 61. According to information available, some families chose to send their children to schools located in the Tbilisi-controlled territory so that they could receive education in their native language. Restrictions on freedom of movement and frequent closures of crossing points, however, reportedly further hampered access to education by children who had to regularly cross the Administrative Boundary Lines. Various submissions to OHCHR stated that in July 2019, schoolchildren who wanted to receive higher education in the Tbilisi-controlled territory were unable to take part in the Unified National Examinations due to the closure of Enguri Bridge. A decision was therefore rendered, according to the Government of Georgia, to enrol all registered students without any examinations and for free. In its submission, the Government of Georgia mentioned that in 2020, authorities in control in Abkhazia and South Ossetia discouraged school graduates from ethnic Georgian 13