A/HRC/26/12 8. The delegation reported that civil society was involved in the preparation process of the national report through the Government Council for Human Rights, National Minorities and Gender Equality. The draft national report was presented to members of the Council and was discussed by the Council at one of its sessions. In addition, civil society representatives and the public were given an opportunity to provide their comments on the consolidated version of the national report during the consultation process. 9. The delegation also presented the main developments that had taken place since the first cycle of the universal periodic review. Some positive changes had been made in the institutional framework related to human rights. For example, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs had undertaken more responsibility in respect of human rights policies by taking on the role of coordinator of human rights policies and by chairing the Government Council for Human Rights, National Minorities and Gender Equality, which is a forum for regular discussions between Government representatives, civil society and human rights experts. The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in its new coordinating role had served to ensure the effective division of tasks and responsibilities among the line ministries in the field of human rights and an efficient follow-up to the issues discussed. 10. During the reporting period, important legislative amendments to the Antidiscrimination Act were adopted, with a view to further strengthening protection against discrimination, including widening the scope of the definition of indirect discrimination. By establishing the Committee for the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Persons in October 2012, the Government responded to the need to ensure better awareness of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. 11. As a multi-ethnic country Slovakia had made efforts to create a suitable environment for the preservation and protection of national minorities. In this respect, the Government had been actively engaged in a dialogue with international human rights monitoring bodies, in particular those of the Council of Europe, and had benefited from the invaluable expertise of those bodies when adopting and implementing national policies regarding the rights of national minorities. The dialogue with the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and with the Council of Europe Venice Commission on particular thematic issues served as a positive example in this regard. The Government Plenipotentiary for National Minorities had been established in 2012 to, inter alia, ensure adequate follow-up to recommendations made by regional human rights mechanisms on national minorities. 12. Having in mind the absence of a comprehensive concept paper on human rights, the Government had initiated the drafting of a national strategy for the promotion and protection of human rights. In the preparatory stage, a broad discussion on further improvements in the situation of human rights had been initiated, involving various governmental and non-governmental actors. The Government was planning to complete the drafting of the strategy by June 2014. 13. During the reporting period Slovakia had ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR). As regards the question of ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CPED), the delegation stated that all necessary legislative amendments had been adopted and the national ratification procedure was under way. Slovakia had also ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure in December 2013. 14. The delegation stated that Slovakia had started the process of ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. The relevant legal process had been initiated for the ratification of the 4