A/HRC/38/30 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to the statement by the President of the Human Rights Council on 24 March 2017 (A/HRC/PRST/34/1), which called upon the Government of Haiti, with the assistance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the special procedures of the Council, and the Interministerial Human Rights Committee of Haiti, in close consultation with civil society, the Office of the Ombudsperson and other stakeholders, to prepare an action plan to implement the recommendations made by international human rights mechanisms, including those made in the context of the universal periodic review and by the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti. 1 In the statement, the President also requested the Government to establish a national mechanism for reporting and monitoring the fulfilment of targets and indicators related to technical assistance programmes in the field of human rights; determine a timeline for achieving the objectives set; and identify resources to implement the plan. The President requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit a written report on the implementation of the plan to the Council at its the thirty-eighth session. 2. In October 2017, the Security Council established the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti, mandating it to assist the Government in strengthening rule-of-law institutions, supporting the Haitian National Police and engaging in the promotion and protection of human rights (Security Council resolution 2350 (2017)). Through the human rights component of the Mission for Justice Support, OHCHR has been advocating for the appointment of a high-level human rights focal point in the executive branch to facilitate the development of a national human rights action plan. OHCHR has also continued to support the work of the national human rights institution. The present report is based on the monitoring and technical assistance of the human rights component. 3. In the report, the High Commissioner provides an overview of the preparation of a national human rights action plan. He also addresses concerns raised in the statement by the President of the Human Rights Council related to the implementation of key outstanding recommendations made by various international human rights mechanisms, including the former Independent Expert on the situation on human rights in Haiti, to be considered in the elaboration of an action plan (see A/HRC/31/77, paras. 105–111, and A/HRC/34/73, paras. 99–107). Thus, the report includes information and recommendations about the persisting practice of prolonged pretrial detention, efforts towards the adoption of revised drafts of the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the need to eradicate illiteracy, provide adequate housing to internally displaced persons and protect the human rights of Haitian migrants. 4. In 2014, the office of the Minister Delegate for Human Rights and the Fight against Extreme Poverty (hereinafter, “Minister Delegate for Human Rights”) and the Interministerial Committee on Human Rights produced a first draft of a national human rights plan, identifying recommendations made by United Nations mechanisms and proposing actions to implement them. While this draft document represented a serious first step towards incorporating human rights in government policies, there has been no progress towards finalizing it. Efforts to adopt a human rights action plan could be resumed by building on the considerable preparation accomplished for the elaboration of the 2014 draft. II. Context 5. Social grievances, corruption and weak institutions still constitute major obstacles to the realization of human rights in Haiti. With about 59 per cent of the population estimated to be living below the poverty line, the country remains the poorest in the Americas. The 1 The mandate of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti was established in 1995 by the Commission on Human Rights and was discontinued by the Human Rights Council in March 2017 (A/HRC/PRST/34/1). 3