A/HRC/39/14 restriction of arrests and deprivations of liberty and the decriminalization of a number of crimes. 10. The institutions of pardon and amnesty had also been widely used in Azerbaijan during the reporting period. In total, the President had issued nine acts of pardon, which had been applied to 1,378 convicts, and the parliament had approved two Acts of Amnesty, which had been applied to about 21,000 people. 11. In order to support the development of the legal profession, on 22 February 2018 the President had signed a decree on additional measures to develop legal practice in the country. The decree envisaged measures to improve material and technical support for lawyers’ organizations throughout the country, the admission of new members through regular bar exams and the development of professional training and qualifications for lawyers with a view to improving the quality of legal services. 12. The fight against corruption was one of the Government’s priorities. The National Action Plan for Open Government 2016–2018 had been approved by Presidential decree on 27 April 2016. The Plan sought to improve anti-corruption legislation, raise awareness of citizens in the fight against corruption, enhance the engagement of civil society organizations and develop proposals for establishing corruption-related crimes. 13. The State Agency for Services and Social Innovations continued to widen the scope of its activities in the efficient delivery of public services and social innovations to citizens. From 2013 to the present, the centres in the Agency’s network had received more than 20 million applications, with a satisfaction rate of 98 to 100 per cent among the population. A number of States had expressed interest in learning from the experience of the State Agency and applying that model in their countries. 14. There were currently more than 5,000 media outlets in the country. About 80 per cent of the Azerbaijani population had unhindered access to the Internet, which had become the most popular and practical means of information and media communication. The Presidential State Fund to Support the Development of the Media continued to carry out its activities effectively. 15. The State worked in partnership with representatives of civil society. More than 3,254 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had been registered in Azerbaijan, 500 of which were dedicated to human rights protection. In 2017, the Presidential Council on State Support for NGOs had financed 484 NGO projects at a cost of over 3 million manats. 16. The International Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, also known as the “Baku Process”, had been established by the President in 2008 as a platform for coordinating international efforts to strengthen tolerance and mutual understanding and combat discrimination, extremism and xenophobia in society. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation was also making a major contribution to the development of multiculturalism and tolerance in the country. 17. As a result of the successful implementation of measures envisaged in socioeconomic development policy documents adopted in the reporting period, including “Azerbaijan 2020: A Look into the Future” and the strategic road maps for the national economy and the main sectors of the economy adopted in 2016, a noticeable reduction in the unemployment rate had been achieved, social protection for the unemployed had been strengthened, favourable conditions had been created for improving the labour market and competitiveness had been enhanced. 18. Over the past five years, the gross domestic product (GDP) had increased by 1.1 times, including an increase of 2.2 times in the non-oil sector, and 1.4 times for household incomes. During the period the non-oil industry had increased 2.2 times, agriculture 1.2 times, trade 1.4 times, tourism 1.7 times, transport 1.2 times and communication 1.5 times. 19. Azerbaijan supported the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Most of the guidelines and directions of the development concept “Azerbaijan 2020: A Look into the Future” and the strategic road maps for the national economy and the main sectors of the economy were identical to those in the 2030 Agenda. The National Coordinating Council on Sustainable Development had been established in 2016. 3