A/HRC/38/7 18. In its current context of vulnerability, Mali nonetheless faced challenges, in particular security concerns and lack of financial resources. 19. Presidential, legislative and municipal elections had been held during the reporting period, which had also seen the culmination of the negotiations with armed groups that had led to the signature in 2015 of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali. Despite the prevailing insecurity, significant progress had been made in implementing the Agreement. The Agreement Monitoring Committee and the National Coordinating Committee for the Implementation of the Agreement — the latter having been superseded by the high representative of the President — had been put in place to facilitate the implementation of and follow-up to the commitments made with the various stakeholders. 20. Mali would respect all the commitments it had made as part of the Agreement, as it was convinced that there was no credible alternative to a peaceful path to a lasting settlement of the crisis. Given the challenges related to the implementation of the Agreement, Mali hoped to receive technical and financial assistance. National human rights institutions and civil society organizations deserved particular attention with regard to capacity-building and technical assistance in view of the role they were called upon to play in promoting and protecting human rights. 21. The delegation expressed appreciation for the invaluable efforts made by the international community to help Mali emerge from the multidimensional crisis and highlighted the excellent cooperation with the United Nations that had been made possible by MINUSMA and the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali, who had just made his ninth visit to the country. 22. Mali stood ready to cooperate fully with all special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council and undertook to give careful consideration to any requests for visits by such individuals. The Government had recently invited several special rapporteurs to visit Mali, including the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. 23. B. Lastly, Mali reiterated its commitment to the universal periodic review. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review 24. During the interactive dialogue, 78 delegations made statements. Recommendations made during the dialogue are to be found in section II of the present report. 25. Mauritania expressed appreciation for the efforts made by Mali to protect women’s rights and to combat gender-based violence, extrajudicial executions and torture. It welcomed the State’s commitment to the promotion of peace and national reconciliation and its efforts to ensure the enjoyment of the right to an adequate standard of living. Mauritania called on the international community to continue supporting Mali. 26. Mauritius welcomed the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission, in 2016, action plans for the national policy on human rights and for the national policy on transitional justice for the period 2017–2021, and measures to protect the rights of women and children. Mauritius supported the call made by Mali to the international community for capacity-building and technical assistance. 27. Mexico recognized the willingness of Mali to cooperate with the Independent Expert and trusted that such cooperation would be extended to all United Nations mechanisms. Mexico also welcomed the State’s efforts to implement the peace agreement and the human rights and transitional justice policies. 28. Montenegro commended the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission. It noted that female genital mutilation was still a challenge, and regretted the lack of statistics and studies on gender-based violence and the lack of adequate resources to implement the national action plan to combat female genital mutilation. Montenegro noted concerns regarding the revised Personal and Family Code and encouraged Mali to amend it. 4 GE.18-06102