A/HRC/37/5 91. Spain welcomed the ratification by Argentina of a number of international human rights instruments, as well as the progress made in the areas of violence against women, penitentiary conditions, and freedom of expression and the plurality of media. 92. The State of Palestine welcomed the efforts made by Argentina to improve the quality of education, including through the adoption of the national strategic plan entitled “Argentina teaches and learns”, and the progress achieved in the fight against discrimination. 93. Sweden noted that, while the launch of the national strategy to combat violence against women was a first, positive step, violence against women remained a major concern. It also noted the lack of a general prohibition on corporal punishment of children. 94. Switzerland welcomed the efforts made in the area of women’s rights, but noted that more progress was needed with regard to sexual and reproductive rights. It shared the concerns of the Committee against Torture regarding recurrent practices of torture and illtreatment in detention. 95. Thailand welcomed the efforts made by Argentina to ensure access to justice for persons with disabilities and the country’s inclusion of children with disabilities in the development of the education system. It recognized the country’s continuing efforts to improve prison conditions. 96. Timor-Leste commended Argentina for its adoption of the Justice 2020 Programme and the Act on the prevention and punishment of trafficking in persons and assistance to victims. It also welcomed efforts to promote women’s rights. 97. Ukraine commended the significant steps taken in creating a strong legislative framework to safeguard human rights. While noting the remarkable efforts made in gradual economic liberalization, it deemed it important to ensure a balance by providing the social assistance necessary to meet the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals. 98. The delegation reaffirmed that freedom of expression and access to information were pillars of the Argentinian democratic system and noted the creation, in 2015, of the national communications authority as an independent supervisory mechanism. It highlighted the participatory reform process of the regulatory framework regarding audiovisual communications services, telecommunications and new information technologies, as well as the implementation of a protocol for the protection of journalists investigating, inter alia, cases of drug trafficking, human trafficking, corruption, kidnappings, terrorism and abuse of authority. 99. In order to promote public policies on women rights, in 2017 Argentina had strengthened its national mechanism for gender equality by creating the National Women’s Institute, a decentralized entity with financial autonomy and the rank of State secretariat, a decision that had followed an unprecedented increase in the mechanism’s budget. Argentina had also incorporated the crime of femicide into its legal system, with a penalty of life imprisonment, without the possibility of mitigating circumstances. In addition, the innovative figure of “linked” femicide (the act of killing a person, male or female, linked by family or emotional ties to someone with whom the perpetrator maintained a relationship, for the purpose of causing suffering to the person with whom the perpetrator had a relationship) had been introduced in the Criminal Code, expressing a comprehensive approach to the concept of violence against women. 100. With regard to the right to health, the delegation highlighted the implementation of the universal health coverage strategy, aimed at generating a new health-care system able to provide all people with adequate access, free of charge, to quality health services. 101. The Government’s primary focus regarding sexual and reproductive rights was on ensuring access to information, free contraceptive methods and legal interruption of pregnancy in the types of cases listed in the Criminal Code. Within that framework, the Ministry of Health, together with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Development, had designed the national plan for the prevention and reduction of unintended pregnancy in adolescents. The plan was aimed at improving sexual and reproductive health services, ensuring informed decisions by adolescents and strengthening 9