Norway and Uruguay).8 11. The Report of the UPR Working Group on Lao PDR dated 23 March 20159 (Report of the Working Group) included 196 recommendations made by UN Member States, of which Lao PDR has accepted 116. 12. In the Report of the Working Group, Lao PDR stated that they developed the national strategy and plan of action on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, with a landscaping report conducted to assess potential opportunities for a digital birth registration system.10 13. As of June 2018, Lao PDR has not yet achieved universal birth registration, with statistics showing that 73% of children under 5 years of age were registered in 2017.11 14. Four recommendations were made by reviewing States in relation to statelessness: I. II. III. IV. "Continue to modernize its birth registration system and improve access to remote locations, and step up efforts to ensure free and universal birth registration" by Brazil; "Adopt legal and administrative provisions for the issuance of free birth certificates for all children born in the national territory, and for the establishment of civil registry offices in all districts, including rural districts" by Mexico; "Continue efforts to modernize its birth registration system, and evaluate if more steps are needed to ensure access to universal birth registration in order to ensure the rights of children to nationality is adequately protected" by Namibia; and, "Respect all its national and international obligations regarding forcibly displaced persons" by Switzerland. Each of these recommendations was supported by Lao PDR. 15. The three concerns most often raised by reviewing States in the Report of the Working Group are listed below. Responses by Lao PDR to the recommendations made by reviewing States in relation to these issues were varied. These are: I. II. III. discrimination against minorities and religious groups, with concerns raised by Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Australia, Canada, Hungary and Ireland; the disappearance of a civil society activist in 2012 (Sombath Somphone), and the perceived failure to adequately investigate allegations of forced disappearance, with concerns raised by Sweden, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Singapore and the Netherlands; and, restrictions on civil society (including in relation to freedom of expression, assembly and association), with concerns raised by Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Australia, Belgium, France and Latvia. 16. Lao PDR has three overdue reports which remain outstanding, despite it supporting a recommendation by Sierra Leone to "submit their outstanding and long overdue reports to the 8 Human Rights Council, UPR of Lao PDR - Second Cycle: Thematic list of Recommendations, accessed at https://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session21/LA/LaoMatriceRecommendations.pdf. 9 Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review - Lao People's Democratic Republic, 29th sess, UN Doc A/HRC/29/7 (23 March 2015). 10 Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review - Lao People's Democratic Republic, 29th sess, UN Doc A/HRC/29/7 (23 March 2015), para. 108. 11 Lao PDR, Voluntary National Review on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (17 July 2018), page 59. 3