A/HRC/38/28 bottlenecks in access to legal aid. This analysis resulted in a set of recommendations to inform necessary amendments to the law on legal aid. 36. The Latin American model protocol for the investigation of gender-related killing of women, developed in 2014 by OHCHR and UN-Women, is a valuable tool for strengthening the capacities of judicial operators tackling investigation, prosecution and judgment of cases of femicide, and thus addressing violence against women, in line with target 5.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals. An online course on the protocol has been developed, and was rolled out in Argentina and Central American countries in 2017. 37. Technical cooperation aimed at addressing structural gender-specific discrimination, gender-based violence, harmful practices, and the lack of sexual and reproductive health care, including maternal care services, contributes to the achievement of Goal 5 on gender equality, and its effects cut across a number of other goals, in particular Goal 3 and Goal 4, as shown in the examples below. 38. In Sudan, the United Nations supported the implementation of national legislation to criminalize female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation is currently outlawed in some Sudanese states, but the practice is still highly prevalent nationwide. United Nations advocacy and support to the National Parliament have recently led to a bill criminalizing female genital mutilation. The bill, which is aimed at amending the country’s criminal law to include female genital mutilation as a crime punishable by three years’ imprisonment, has been approved by the Council of Ministers and is expected to be submitted to Parliament for endorsement. 39. In Egypt, the United Nations supported the amendment of the law on female genital mutilation, which made the practice a felony rather than a misdemeanour under the Egyptian Penal Code. Support was also provided for the drafting of a law criminalizing child marriage. Kyrgyzstan, in response to recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and recommendations made as part of the universal periodic review of the country, introduced a law criminalizing child marriage, and toughened the punishment that is prescribed in the Criminal Code for bride-kidnapping. 40. In Namibia, support is provided for effective implementation of the Policy for the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy, recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as a means of addressing the high rate of adolescent girls dropping out of school due to pregnancy. 7 This policy allows girls to remain at school as long as possible and to return to school after childbirth, thus ensuring their access to education and to future opportunities to make a living. In 2017, UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNESCO and UNFPA, conducted an extensive training programme for officials working in the area of school health, which was aimed at creating a robust understanding of the background, rationale and content of the policy. Officials who have received this training run sessions and pass on their knowledge to colleagues and implementers. 41. In Uganda, OHCHR, UNFPA and WHO worked closely with the Ministry of Health, the Uganda Human Rights Commission and civil society on the implementation of the technical guidance on preventable maternal mortality and morbidity published by OHCHR.8 In particular, they provided technical support to the Ministry of Health for the development and elaboration of its multisectoral strategy on the application of a human rights-based approach to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity. In terms of capacity-building, district-level training sessions were conducted with medical and other technical personnel on the application of the technical guidance and on sexual and reproductive health and rights. 42. Discriminatory norms and practices can be a central determinant of unequal outcomes for children. “Son preference”, whereby boys are advantaged over girls with respect to educational and other opportunities, reinforces the structural imbalance in power relations in society, which perpetuates violence and discrimination against women and 7 8 10 See CRC/C/NAM/CO/2-3, para. 63. A/HRC/21/22 and Corrs. 1 and 2.