A/HRC/48/4 9. An average of 19 per cent of the budget was allocated for education. That allocation covered, inter alia, all basic learning needs and school feeding programmes at public schools. While there remained challenges in maintaining a consistent level of education in all schools, the Government remained confident that this was achievable with the help of partners and through the implementation of the General Education Educator Policy. The promulgation of the Basic Education Act (3 of 2020) was a positive step in enhancing access to inclusive education. Access to basic education for children in marginalized communities had improved through mobile schools and incentives to attract qualified teachers to teach in remote areas. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had caused significant disruption in the education sector. 10. Despite a high HIV/AIDS burden the adult prevalence rate was 12.8 per cent – Namibia had met the 90-90-90 treatment target of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) by 2020 and was committed to achieving the 95-95-95 treatment target by 2030. Child and maternal mortality rates had declined. A targeted national response to combating pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, outbreaks of hepatitis E, cancer, diabetes and kidney disease was being implemented. 11. Access to justice had been enhanced by expanding access to legal aid. Legal counsel had been deployed to all district courts across the country and efforts were under way to enhance service delivery to indigent litigants. 12. Freedom of opinion and expression played a crucial role in ensuring good governance and promoting human rights, and Namibia ranked first in Africa and twenty-fourth in the world on the World Press Freedom Index. 13. Social and economic inequality persisted. Namibia had the second-highest Gini coefficient in the world, despite targeted interventions that included supportive and redistributive policies. Unemployment, especially among youth, remained a major concern and programmes had been introduced to create employment with a specific focus on training and youth entrepreneurship. 14. There was slow progress in realizing the right to adequate housing and the Government was continuing to pursue viable partnerships with the private sector to provide sufficient housing. Amendment bills to the High Court Act (16 of 1990) and the Magistrates’ Courts Act (32 of 1944), once promulgated, will provide for judicial oversight in matters relating to the sale of immovable property, allowing time for parties to find a solution to avoid the sale of primary immovable property. Namibia has met the Millennium Development Goal target for safe drinking water and was on course to improving sanitation. 15. The bill on preventing and combating torture would once again be brought before Parliament later in 2021, after the Ministry of Justice had addressed the issues that had been highlighted during the parliamentary debates held in 2019. Torture was prohibited in the Constitution and public officials accused of torture were liable for prosecution. In 2016, the Office of the Ombudsman had developed a training manual on the prevention of torture for police officers and training was given to police officers in nine regions of the country. 16. The Office of the Ombudsman and the Ministry of Justice had held public hearings to listen to the concerns of persons with albinism and had recommended solutions for consideration in the development of government policies and legislation. A Namibian disability standard was being developed to ensure that public buildings and buildings meant for public use were accessible to all persons with disabilities. 17. Discrimination against minorities, women, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups continued to be of concern and efforts were ongoing to increase public awareness about the need to respect the human rights of others. Namibia was a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ratification of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), was under consideration. 18. Several mechanisms in the form of legislation, policies and action programmes aimed at promoting the rights and welfare of ethnic minorities had been developed. Teaching and learning materials were available in the Ju/’hoansi dialect of the San languages and used to teach students in grades 1 to 3 in schools predominantly attended by San children. Marginalized communities were among those targeted in the context of the land resettlement 3