A/HRC/42/11 Constitution and the State’s laws, and also through its commitments at the regional and international levels. 9. The Government spent billions of dollars annually to guarantee the welfare of its people and to ensure that no one was left behind. The State enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in Asia, with a crime rate of just over 1 per cent. Brunei Darussalam was ranked fifty-fifth of 190 countries for ease of doing business, and its gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to grow more than 5 per cent in 2020. Brunei, as an early achiever of the Millennium Development Goals, strove to build on its achievements to make progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 10. The State’s long-standing policy of providing free universal access to education ensured opportunities for all, regardless of race, religion or gender. The Government also provided full scholarships to the best performing students, and low-interest loans to eligible Bruneians wishing to further their studies overseas. This had contributed to the country’s high literacy rate of over 95 per cent. A five-year education strategy plan had been adopted in 2018 to further strengthen and develop the skills of its human resources. In 2019, Universiti Brunei Darussalam was ranked among the world’s top 1.3 per cent by the QS World University Rankings. 11. The people of Brunei Darussalam continued to enjoy free universal health-care coverage, including medication, and treatment abroad for complex cases. Citizens did not require private health insurance to be treated in government hospitals. The Government had invested heavily in providing health-care services, including free vaccination programmes, antenatal screenings, a dedicated state-of-the-art women’s and children’s facility, and privately run specialized hospitals that provided cutting-edge treatment for, inter alia, cancer, stroke and cardiac conditions. Over the past 50 years, Brunei Darussalam had maintained a low maternal mortality ratio of 0.6 per 1,000 live births, and since 2017, an infant mortality rate of 9.5 per 1,000 live births. The Government continued to address other health issues, including non-communicable disease and mental health. It had implemented a multisectoral action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases for the period 2013–2018, and was collaborating with the World Health Organization in developing its next action plan. 12. The Government emphasized the need for securing housing for its citizens. To date, more than 2,000 plots of land and more than 30,000 houses for landless citizens had been provided. There were no homeless persons in Brunei Darussalam. 13. Brunei Darussalam placed great importance on family values and its institutions for the well-being and integrity of society. Since 2012, it had celebrated National Family Day every first Sunday of May to promote the institution of the family. The Government had implemented safety nets and social support for families and vulnerable groups, particularly women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities. 14. Women played an important role in the country’s development; more women were in fact employed in traditionally male-dominated fields and in government services, and were well represented in the Legislative Council. Brunei Darussalam was represented by 12 women ambassadors of the 43 the State had in various cities, including its Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Office at Geneva and in New York. According to the World Economic Forum, Brunei Darussalam had made significant progress towards gender equality in areas such as education, health and economic participation; out of 149 countries, it had risen from ninety-eighth in 2014 to ninetieth in 2018. Brunei Darussalam also ranked first for the enrolment of girls in secondary and tertiary education, and eleventh for wage equality for similar work. In 2017, Brunei Darussalam ranked fifty-eighth in the employment of women legislators, senior officials and managers. Currently, more than 1,200 women held senior government positions, including 2 deputy ministers, compared to 982 men. Since 2011, women were also given 105 days of paid maternity leave. 15. The Government had enforced laws to protect the welfare of children. The extended family system was a core component of Brunei society that also safeguarded the well-being of the child. The Government was taking measures to ensure sufficient support for working mothers by improving the standards and quality of childcare services and service providers by reviewing the Child Care Centres Act and the Child Care Centres Regulations. 3