A/HRC/36/5 42. A national council of Tunisians abroad had been established under Act No. 68 of 2016 with the task of protecting the rights and interests of Tunisians abroad and encouraging them to invest in Tunisia. A national migration observatory had also been established to monitor migration flows and carry out research in that field. Regarding the rights of migrants, a project on rationalizing labour migration governance and protecting the rights of workers was being implemented with the support of the Government of Switzerland. Consultations were also being held on the potential ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 43. Regarding the right to freedom of assembly, the Government had prioritized the preparation of a law on the organization of associations in a manner compatible with international norms and standards. That approach would increase transparency with regard to the financing of civil society organizations. 44. The Government had drafted a text on its accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure and on the accession to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Following the revolution, the Government had withdrawn the declaration and reservations that Tunisia had submitted on its accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1985 45. With regard to violence against women, article 46 of the Constitution stipulated that the State must take all measures necessary to combat violence against women. In order to implement those provisions, the Government had presented a bill to the Assembly of the People’s Representatives on that subject in July 2016. This bill adopted a comprehensive approach towards addressing the issue of violence against women from a human rightsbased perspective that guaranteed the right to dignity and the inviolability of a woman’s body. It was also comprehensive in its approach to the elimination of gender-based violence through prevention, protection, commitment and coordination. The initiative had been examined by the committee on rights and fundamental freedoms of the Assembly of People’s Representatives. In anticipation of that measure and the implementation of the national strategy to eliminate violence against women, which had been relaunched in 2012, five protocols had been signed in December 2016 to protect women victims of violence. Since 2015, shelters had been available to women going through a divorce and those in violent situations. Tunisia also planned to open a direct hotline to inform women about access to assistance. 46. Chad welcomed numerous legislative and institutional measures to promote and protect human rights and the participatory approach adopted by the National Commission for the Coordination, Preparation and Submission of Reports and Follow-up to Recommendations on Human Rights. 47. Chile welcomed reforms to promote gender equality and expressed concern about the levels of discrimination and violence against women and about reports of torture in detention. 48. China commended the State’s efforts to develop the country’s least developed regions, improve living standards and reduce the gap between the rural and the urban population. 49. The Congo encouraged Tunisia to redouble its efforts to harmonize its legislation and regulations with the new Constitution and international legal instruments. 50. Costa Rica welcomed measures against torture and expressed concern about the fact that the Government had not amended the Constitution to exclude the death penalty and that same-sex sexual relations were criminalized. 51. Côte d’Ivoire welcomed the national mechanism to follow-up to recommendations made by United Nations bodies and encouraged the Government to strengthen provisions to fight the exploitation of vulnerable people and migrants. 52. Cuba highlighted legislative measures relating to the penitentiary system, the creation of a national body to prevent torture and measures to fight racial discrimination. 5