A/HRC/32/7 8. Estonia considered the universal periodic review as an effective tool to promote human rights and to exchange best practices. Since its first review in 2011, Estonia had undertaken a coordinated effort to implement the recommendations and voluntary commitments. Estonia had implemented an overwhelming majority of the accepted recommendations, and a few of them remained in the process of implementation. 9. During the reporting period, Estonia engaged in continual cooperation with human rights bodies of the United Nations. It received several visits of the special rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council and submitted periodic reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee against Torture and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as its common core document in 2015. In addition, the Government maintained continuing dialogue and consultations with representatives of civil society on human rights issues. 10. The delegation expressed its gratitude to all States that had submitted advance questions. It continued its statement in order to provide a response to those questions. The protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities remained a priority of the Government. The Estonian population comprised over 190 nationalities, and minorities constituted approximately 31 percent of the population. Estonia had been implementing its national integration programmes since 2000. The new programme for the period 2014-2020, which had been developed by taking into account new developments in society, assessments of regular monitoring and the opinions of representatives of national minorities and experts had set three main objectives, including the provision of continuing support to long-term residents belonging to national minorities to integrate them into society. The Ministry of Culture, along with several other ministries, had been responsible for the realization of the national integration policy, encompassing different areas of life. The integration monitoring survey carried out in 2014 and 2015 indicated positive results of the integration efforts. 11. The delegation reported on the launch of a new Russian-language public television channel, targeting a Russian-speaking audience and aimed at providing objective information on daily life in Estonia and helping with the integration of the Russian-speaking population in the society. Furthermore, the provision of free courses on the Estonian language was envisaged in the integration strategy to enhance the command of the state language among minorities. 12. One of the priorities of the Government was to reduce the number of persons with undetermined citizenship. The amendments to the Citizenship Act were aimed at simplifying naturalization requirements and targeted especially the children of parents with undetermined citizenship, beneficiaries of international protection and older persons. The number of persons with undetermined citizenship had decreased due to the continual efforts of the Government. 13. Estonia complied with European Union legislation related to the regulations and requirements concerning determination of refugee status, as well as the provision of legal guarantees for them. In that respect, the 2016 legal amendments would further incorporate European Union legislation. 14. Estonia took steps to improve the living conditions of asylum seekers. In 2014, an accommodation centre for asylum seekers had been moved to a new location, which was closer to public services, including education institutions, the labour market and health-care services, than the previous one. Estonia took measures to ensure that the children of newly arrived migrants, refugees or asylum seekers received adequate education. The Estonian language immersion programme had proven effective; the children of refugees who had started school in autumn 2015 already had a good command of Estonian. 4

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