A/HRC/37/49/Add.1 the way in which the 2011 census was carried out; they alleged that the official figures provided by the State did not reflect the actual populations of their communities and that such underreporting has had a negative effect on their ability to be recognized as national minorities in certain areas of the country. 66. With respect to intersectionality in relation to freedom of religion or belief and minority identities, several members of the community from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia reported that, despite the size of its population and legal recognition as a national minority in several districts in the country — including in and around the city of Korce — it has not been able to convince government officials or the Orthodox Church of Albania — the only officially recognized Orthodox church in Albania — to allow it to establish its own church in the country. While they acknowledged that the Orthodox Church of Albania has allowed clergy from different ethnolinguistic minorities, including from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to conduct services in their respective language, their numbers are small compared to the overall number of inhabitants from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the country — especially during sacred holidays. The interlocutors also noted that because the Orthodox Christians from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia use a different Christian calendar from the Orthodox Church of Albania, they are sometimes prevented from carrying out important ceremonies on the appropriate days. A member of the Greek community also expressed concern about the alleged destruction of an Orthodox church in the area of Himara in southern Albania, which he believed was reflective of the general discrimination faced by Greeks in the country. 67. The Special Rapporteur met with representatives of the Egyptian and Roma communities who enabled him to have a better understanding of the ways in which discrimination against members of their communities, which has been acknowledged by both the Government and civil society actors, affects their ability to exercise their right to freedom of religion or belief. It is important to note that most members of the Egyptian and Roma communities often self-identify as belonging to different ethnolinguistic groups. The Special Rapporteur was curious as to whether the general discrimination faced by these groups was motivated — at least in part — by animus on account of religion or belief. His initial impressions suggested that there was de minimis interference with their right to freedom of religion or belief, but he noted that more research needed to be done in this area. 68. The Special Rapporteur notes that Albania did not fully accept four recommendations made during its second universal periodic review in April 2014. Three of them — relating to the prohibition of discrimination based on nationality, discrimination against the Roma and Egyptian communities and differentiated treatment between national and ethnolinguistic minorities 5 — were partially accepted. The Government noted (i.e. rejected) one recommendation relating to the adoption of a law on the protection of national minorities, in particular ensuring the teaching of and instruction in their mother tongue. 6 F. Women, gender and sexuality 69. The Special Rapporteur discussed issues regarding the human rights of women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in the context of freedom of religion or belief with civil society groups and members of the United Nations country team working on these and related issues, such as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). He noted that legal safeguards in Albania to protect these groups from discrimination, including by individuals motivated on account of religion or belief, seemed to comply with its international legal obligations. 70. The dialogue between the delegation of Albania and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women held in July 2016 as part of the Committee’s consideration of the State party’s fourth periodic report represented the first time that a 5 6 See A/HRC/27/4, paras. 106.6–106.7 and 106.21. Ibid., para. 106.22. 15