A/HRC/44/57/Add.2 had produced progress reports on both generic and specific measures taken to combat discrimination. 31. Interconnected with its racial equality and non-discrimination efforts is the National Action Plan on Human Rights, which is currently undergoing a process of governmental review and updating, defines the Government’s responsibilities regarding the protection of human rights, including measures taken to combat racial discrimination and ethnic profiling. The Netherlands has also adopted a specific action plan on business and human rights. 32. The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights and the National Ombudsman strengthen the Netherlands’ efforts to ensure enjoyment of human rights at the national and local levels. These bodies promote human rights policy and legislation, including by receiving complaints, providing legal advice and monitoring national and local authorities’ compliance with the Government’s human rights law obligations. D. Shortcomings in existing domestic laws and their implementation 33. The Government has benefited from recent reviews of its equality and nondiscrimination legal and policy frameworks. Of particular relevance are the 2019 report of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance10 and the concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on the fifth periodic report of the Netherlands.11 Furthermore, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will review the Government’s implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination at its 101st session. 34. The concerns of the Special Rapporteur regarding domestic laws and their implementation are reflected in the above-mentioned report and concluding observations. Many recommendations from other treaty body reviews (see, e.g., those contained in the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the combined nineteenth to twenty-first periodic reports of the Netherlands) 12 and from the reports of other United Nations special procedures13 also remain relevant for addressing the shortcomings of the Netherlands in ensuring human rights to racial equality and nondiscrimination. 35. Although reportedly broader in practice, the Equal Treatment Act does not explicitly encompass the full definition of racial discrimination contained in article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 14 nor the expansive non-discrimination grounds contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other human rights treaties. Furthermore, the Act should explicitly reference the Government’s commitment to an intersectional approach that accounts for overlapping forms of discrimination, including multiple discrimination on the basis of race, gender, migration status, descent, colour, sexual orientation and/or gender identity. 36. Discussions of discrimination in the action plans and programmes of the Netherlands typically focus on ensuring equal treatment, promoting equal opportunity and protecting vulnerable communities from overt discrimination. Although the Government’s obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination include ensuring both de jure and de facto racial equality, these documents appear to minimize the latter and insufficiently address the Government’s obligation to take positive measures or affirmative actions.15 10 11 12 13 14 15 See https://rm.coe.int/fifth-report-on-the-netherlands/168094c577. CCPR/C/NLD/CO/5. CERD/C/NLD/CO/19-21. See, e.g., A/HRC/41/44/Add.2 and A/HRC/30/56/Add.1. CERD/C/NLD/CO/19-21. CCPR/C/NLD/CO/5. See also the 2019 report of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance on the Netherlands, p. 14. 7