A/HRC/46/12 cooperate in various areas, including on the protection of human rights defenders and persons displaced by violence and social conflict. Since 2018, Honduras had implemented a participatory process to design a national action plan on business and human rights. 8. The independence of the judiciary was fully respected in Honduras. The selection of the Supreme Court judges had been conducted in accordance with the Constitution through a transparent and participatory process and a series of actions were being implemented to improve access to and the quality of justice and to incorporate new technologies in the judicial process, as foreseen in the Institutional Strategic Plan 2017–2021 of the judiciary. To bring the administration of justice closer to its citizens, Honduras had created “judicial circuits” on matters of corruption, extortion and organized crime. Moreover, work had been done by the judiciary in favour of vulnerable groups, including persons deprived of their liberty, 2,650 of whom had been released during the previous few months. 9. The National Congress had approved several important laws, including the police law incorporating a community policing approach, the law regulating the policing profession and the constitutional reform creating the National Electoral Council and the Electoral Court. The delegation highlighted that the new Criminal Code strengthened the capacity to fight systematic human rights violations as it included a wider range of crimes and better defined existing ones. 10. Implementation of the Law on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators and Justice Officials was a priority. Between 2016 and 2020, the budget of the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators and Justice Officials had been increased by 355 per cent and, to date, approximately 1,000 people had benefited from protection provided by the Mechanism. In order to strengthen the protection of human rights defenders, Honduras had also established the Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators and Justice Officials and had been working, with OHCHR technical support, on a comprehensive policy for the protection of human rights defenders. 11. Regarding the protection of people on the move, Honduras had established a tracing bureau for missing migrants (mesa de búsqueda de migrantes desaparecidos) and the creation of three support centres for returning migrants, two centres for the protection of Honduran migrants (one in Mexico and one in the United States of America) and four support centres for migrants in an irregular situation. As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Honduras had implemented a protocol for returning migrants and established nine temporary isolation centres. 12. Measures had been implemented to address violence against women, which was a great challenge for Honduras. Among those measures was the introduction of gendersensitive criteria for interpreting the Criminal Code, the reform of the Family Code to eliminate child marriage and the approval of the National Policy on Gender in Health. The budget of the National Institute for Women had been increased by 105 per cent. In addition, Honduras had established, under the Ciudad Mujer programme, various centres to provide legal, psychological and social services to women. 13. The delegation highlighted the substantial reduction in the indicators on violence in the country. In 2012, Honduras had a homicide rate of 86.5 per 100,000 inhabitants while, in 2020, the homicide rate was foreseen to decrease to 35 per 100,000 inhabitants. The Ministry of Security had promoted a number of measures to improve public security, including the implementation of the Violence Prevention Policy and the Comprehensive Policy on Harmonious Social Relations and Public Safety, the approval of the Law on the Control of Firearms, Munitions, Explosives and Related Items and the establishment of the Special Commission for the Process of Purification and Transformation of the National Police. The implementation by 2022 of the new police law and the plan for the strengthening and professionalization of the national police was expected to lead to an increase in the number of police officers and, therefore, in a reduction in the participation of the armed forces in public security functions. 14. As part of its efforts to reduce poverty, inequality and exclusion, Honduras had created the National Commission for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, linking the 2030 Agenda to the national planning system and producing two voluntary national reports 3