A/HRC/42/9 stalled. Dominica had taken action to have the voter list revised and national identification cards issued before the next election. 20. The delegation stressed that migrants remained on the voting register unless steps were taken to remove them because they had become ineligible owing to a continuous absence exceeding five years. 21. Dominica had made important progress in developing its social protection system. Between 2014 and 2018, a few interventions had been introduced or revisited, such as a social pension scheme launched in 2014 for elderly people, which had been increased in 2016, and a national health insurance pilot programme that had been launched in 2017. 22. In one response to the needs of the most affected communities hit by Tropical Storm Erika, displaced persons had been placed in rented accommodation and provided with allowances to assist them in meeting their basic needs. 23. Following Hurricane Maria, the newly developed National Resilience Development Strategy 2030, covering the period 2018 to 2030, had been approved and publicly disseminated. A public assistance programme operations manual and standard operating procedures for the Social Welfare Division had been developed. A five-year poverty reduction strategy and action plan for the period 2018 to 2023, targeting economically disadvantaged communities and specific vulnerable groups, had been designed, and preparatory works had begun on a housing and resettlement policy framework and strategy, as well as on an integrated social protection policy and strategy, together with a monitoring and evaluation framework and a costed action plan. 24. In 2018, structures and initiatives for more effective delivery of services had been reoriented to overcome pre-crisis conditions by making Dominica more resilient. Thus, the Social Welfare Division had been merged with the Ministry of Health, and the Rapid Response Social Recovery Agency had been established to provide urgent public support and relief to persons in need and for medical matters. 25. Tropical Storm Erika and Hurricane Maria had damaged the infrastructure of the education system, severely affecting 84 per cent of schools. The rebuilding process had started with efforts to build back better, which would follow guidelines for multi-disaster resilient school buildings. In rebuilding, due account was being given to physical access for children with disabilities. 26. Dominica had continued to implement activities under the OECS [Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States] Education Strategy 2012 to 2021, which included professional development for teachers. In July, when students were on vacation, over 300 teachers followed in-service training programmes. According to the available data, in 2017/18, 60 per cent of the teachers at primary level were trained, while 50 per cent of teachers at the secondary level had received the relevant training; 50 per cent of primary school principals and 73 per cent of secondary school principals had a degree in educational leadership and management. The achievement levels for the national assessments at key stages 2, 4 and 6 had shown increases despite the effects of Hurricane Maria. There had been an increasing trend in the overall pass rate for the past six years, with overall performance in 2018 being 12 points above the regional average. 27. In 2015, the Bureau of Gender Affairs, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, had participated in a joint human rights study tour on the issue of violence against women in the Caribbean, and had carried out a number of activities. In addition, through a social mobilization project, the Bureau, in collaboration with UN-Women, had implemented the “Stop the violence” campaign against gender-based violence, executed over the period 2015 to 2018. Dominica continued to empower women through a revolving loan fund specifically geared towards women. Staffing at the Bureau had been increased and the Bureau and various departments within other ministries and divisions in Dominica currently handled projects and programmes related to gender and women’s issues. 28. About 21.9 per cent of parliamentarians were women. The Dominica Labour Party had fielded 21 candidates for the upcoming general election, of which 38 per cent (eight) 4