A/HRC/37/14 77. Ireland welcomed the efforts of Zambia to advance human rights in the country and acknowledged the progresses it had made. It was, however, concerned about the negative developments regarding the rights to freedom of assembly and expression. 78. Italy welcomed the progress made in aligning domestic legislation with international human rights obligations, especially those relating to persons with disabilities, education, gender equity and equality. It commended Zambia for implementing initiatives to raise HIV awareness, especially among young people. 79. Kenya commended Zambia for its efforts to implement relevant human rightsrelated legal and administrative measures, despite resource constraints. It called on the international community to support Zambia in that endeavour. 80. Libya welcomed the measures taken to strengthen human rights, the rule of law and national mechanisms for the promotion and protection of women’s rights. It noted initiatives for improving infrastructure, especially in health and education. 81. Lithuania welcomed the new constitutional provisions on non-discrimination and looked forward to their implementation. It noted that the use of criminal defamation laws and harassment of the independent media restricted freedom of expression. 82. Madagascar welcomed the positive steps taken by Zambia, including its commitment to protect victims of human trafficking, to ensure the right to education and to integrate into domestic legislation the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 83. Malaysia welcomed the progress in education, health and women’s and children’s rights. It commended Zambia for its efforts to address gender-based violence through the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Act and the establishment of a one-stop centre for victims. 84. Maldives commended Zambia for the enactment of the Gender Equity and Equality Act No. 22 and the establishment of the Gender Equity and Equality Commission. It welcomed the establishment of the National Prosecution Authority and the implementation of the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Act. 85. Mauritius welcomed the pledges that had been made under the Seventh National Development Plan (2017–2021), including the focus on the environment. It was encouraged by the efforts of Zambia to improve the rights of women through the Gender Equity and Equality Commission and the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Fund. 86. Mexico welcomed the fact that Zambia received migrants from neighbouring countries and encouraged it to continue fulfilling its international human rights obligations. Mexico congratulated it for increasing access to primary education and health care, for raising life expectancy and for reducing child mortality. 87. Mongolia welcomed Zambia and thanked it for presenting its national report. 88. Montenegro regretted that the Bill of Rights had not been adopted, but commended Zambia for preparing an anti-torture bill. Montenegro welcomed the progress made in preventing gender-based violence. 89. Morocco welcomed the Constitutional consecration of the prohibition of torture and the drafting of a law against torture. It congratulated Zambia on implementing measures to combat discrimination and violence against women and girls. 90. Namibia noted the establishment of the Gender Equity and Equality Commission and the domestication of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. However, it regretted that the amendments to the Bill of Rights had not been adopted through the referendum and that the death penalty had been retained in the Constitution. 91. The Netherlands commended Zambia for the adoption of the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Framework (2017–2020), but regretted that the country had not accepted any of the recommendations made during previous review cycles relating to same-sex relations and protection of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. 8