A/HRC/38/5 Accordingly, joint programmes were being run to help women to strengthen their campaigning techniques. In 2014, the Legislative Assembly had held the first ever Practice Parliament for Women, a United Nations Development Programme-backed event designed to help women to become effective political leaders. In the 2017 general elections, the 26member Legislative Assembly had welcomed two successful female candidates to its ranks. 18. Tonga had a dedicated division for all matters relating to women’s development and empowerment issues under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Women’s Division was instrumental in working together with all relevant ministries and civil society to oversee and report on the effective implementation of the Family Protection Act 2013. Tonga was committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment through the implementation of the Act and the Revised National Policy on Gender and Development. New initiatives in 2017 had included gender mainstreaming activities in key ministries. 19. In September 2015, the third and final report of Tonga on the Millennium Development Goals had been submitted to the United Nations, 1 showing progress in eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education. 20. In 2015, Tonga had introduced the Tonga Strategic Development Framework 2015– 2025. One of the Framework’s seven national outcomes was for human development to be more inclusive, sustainable and empowering, with an emphasis on gender equality. 21. In July 2017, Tonga had been represented at a workshop and consultation meeting on gender training needs and design and gender profile information entitled “Promoting Evidence-Based Policymaking for Gender Equality”, organized by the Asian Development Bank. The workshop was aimed at developing national capacity for gender mainstreaming in health, fostering discussions on the role of statistics and gender indicators in decisionmaking, and identifying priorities for training and capacity-building. 22. Tongan women were increasingly represented in managerial and higher administrative positions, both within the Government and the private sector. Since 2013, 13 women had held or were holding senior positions in Government. 23. Tongan women also held diplomatic positions overseas. To date, the High Commissioner of Tonga to Australia, the Ambassador of Tonga to Japan, the Tonga Consul General in San Francisco, United States of America, and the Tongan Honorary Consuls for France, the Netherlands and Sweden were women. 24. Women held positions as directors, deputies or members on various public enterprise boards, including the Tonga Communications Corporation, the Tonga Broadcasting Commission, the Tonga Water Board, Tonga Post and Fast Print Limited, Tonga Airports Limited, Tonga Market Limited and the Ports Authority. 25. Tongan women also featured prominently in the private sector as successful owners and managers of small to medium businesses, including retail stores, cafés and restaurants, hotels, resorts and tourist facilities, catering services, handicraft and local produce market stalls, preschools and day-care child services. 26. Tongan women also held leadership roles in regional and international organizations. For instance, in May 2017, a Tongan woman had been appointed to the position of High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, the first Tongan to hold such a senior position in the United Nations. 27. In May 2014, Tonga had launched its Revised National Policy on Gender and Development as a result of a joint partnership between the Government, the private sector, civil society, the community and development partners. 28. In June 2017, Tonga had established a committee comprising relevant ministries, departments and agencies to consider the ratification of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and to review relevant 1 4 Available at www.finance.gov.to/sites/default/files/Tonga%203rd%20MDG%20Report% 20FINAL%20COPY%20%28003%29.pdf.