A/HRC/44/8 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, held its thirty-fifth session from 20 to 31 January 2020. The review of Lesotho was held at the 5th meeting, on 22 January 2020. The delegation of Lesotho was headed by the Minister of Law and Constitutional Affairs, Sixtus Habofanoe Lehana. At its 9th meeting, held on 24 January 2020, the Working Group adopted the report on Lesotho. 2. On 14 January 2020, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Lesotho: Argentina, Burkina Faso and Republic of Korea. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21, the following documents were issued for the review of Lesotho: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/35/LSO/1); (b) A compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/35/LSO/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/35/LSO/3 and Corr.1). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Germany, Liechtenstein, Portugal, on behalf of the Group of Friends on national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America was transmitted to Lesotho through the troika. These questions are available on the website of the universal periodic review. I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. The head of the delegation stated that the preparation of the national report had been both highly participatory and fully inclusive. A stakeholders’ validation workshop had been held on 25 September 2019 for government ministries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, the judiciary, development partners and oversight bodies, such as the National Assembly and Ombudsman. During the workshop there had been constructive exchanges, which had contributed to the content and quality of the report. Deliberations on the report had been conducted in an open atmosphere. 6. As a means of honouring its international obligations, Lesotho had requested technical assistance to address some of its human rights challenges, such as training on human rights issues and State party reporting. Although Lesotho was a State party to all the major human rights instruments, it was, however, lagging behind in its obligations to report and pass the necessary national legislation to enact such international instruments. One of the reasons for such a state of affairs was the absence of any formal mechanism to deal with treaty body reporting. Efforts to set up a national mechanism on reporting and follow-up were under way. 7. In order to cooperate with treaty bodies and special procedures, the country had examined the concluding observations on its initial report under the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, as well as its second periodic report under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The recommendations contained in the Committees’ concluding observations were being implemented. The next periodic report under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the second periodic report under the International 2