A/72/219 on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, sex or gender or sexual orientation and political belief. 22 Georgia reported on efforts to implement its Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination together with the national human rights strategy and related action plan. 23 The Equal Opportunities Commission of Hong Kong, China, tasked with implementing the Race Discrimination Ordinance through complaint handling, legal assistance, policy advocacy and public education, reported on the work of its dedicated ethnic minorities unit in areas including education, health and housing and on the use of minority languages. 24 21. While there has been normative progress in many countries, the findings of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and other human rights bodies demonstrate that persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities continue to be frequent targets of discrimination. 25 A case in point is the persistent discrimination against Roma. Despite various strategies and other efforts aimed at advancing the protection of their rights, Roma continue to face discrimination in law enforcement, health, education and other fields. 26 Human rights challenges faced by Roma are common also in the area of housing, as has been highlighted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other bodies. 27 In June 2016, the OHCHR Regional Office for Europe together with regional actors issued a statement highlighting the devastating implications of forced evictions on the life situation of Roma and called on national, regional and local authorities to find sustainable solutions to the housing or accommodation problems faced by many Roma and Travellers in Europe. 28 In Serbia, OHCHR pursued dialogue with the authorities to ensure that human rights are reflected in a new law on housing, adopted in December 2016, including actionable legal provisions to improve the possibility of challenging the resettlement of Roma when extensive social inclusion measures are not provided. 29 22. Several Member States reported on actions taken to improve the situation of Roma, including through Roma strategies and action plans. Switzerland, for example, reported on the preparation of an action plan for Yenish, Sinti and Roma. 30 Lithuania shared the results of a survey conducted to analyse changes in the situation of the Roma, revealing, inter alia, a welcome increase in the participation of Roma in basic education but a drop in their participation in secondary and higher education. 31 The National Consultative Commission on Human Rights of France reported challenges regarding the inclusion of Roma in education, but also noted that organizations working to defend the human rights of Roma, together with certain local integration initiatives, had helped to decrease negative attitudes towards Roma in recent years. 32 23. The Special Rapporteur on minority issues and other human rights mechanisms have drawn attention not only to serious human rights violations faced __________________ 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 17-12826 Submission by the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines. Submission by Georgia. Submission by the Equal Opportunities Commission of Hong Kong, China. For example, several of the concluding observations adopted by the Committee at its eight yninth session (CERD/C/AZE/CO/7-9, CERD/C/GEO/CO/6-8, CERD/C/NAM/CO/13-15 and CERD/C/ESP/CO/21-23) and its ninetieth session (CERD/C/GRC/CO/20-22, CERD/C/PAK/CO/21-23, CERD/C/LKA/CO/10-17 and CERD/C/UKR/CO/22-23) touched on issues affecting minorities. See, for example, A/HRC/29/24. See, for example, E/C.12/MKD/CO/1 and E/C.12/FRA/CO/4. Submission by the OHCHR Regional Office for Europe. Submission by the OHCHR Human Rights Adviser in Serbia. Submission by Switzerland. Submission by Lithuania. Submission by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights of France. 7/12