viii. ix. Mainstreaming gender into educational policies, programs and projects to ensure gender sensitive education programs; The Equal Opportunities Policy in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions, which reserves a 15% quota for admission of students from disadvantaged backgrounds; and An increase in the number of institutions providing education for students with special education needs, from 12 in 2012 to 64 in 2014, in addition to special cut off points for admissions of students with learning disabilities in tertiary education institutions. x. Protection of the rights of women 21. The Commission welcomes the following measures to address gender based violence (GBV): i. Adoption of Regulations for the Domestic Violence Act in 2013 to facilitate effective implementation of the Act; ii. Development of the National Strategy Towards Ending Gender Based Violence by 2020; and iii. Piloting the Gender Based Violence Referral System to provide comprehensive service and enhance linkages amongst GBV service providers, as well as improve management of GBV cases. 22. The Commission also welcomes the following: i. The dialogue initiated by the Government in 2012 with Dikgosi (chiefs) on mainstreaming gender in the customary justice system; ii. The adoption of the Gender and Development Strategy (2015); iii. The Gender National Strategy (2015) which prioritizes women’s empowerment with regard to political power, decision making and democratic governance, in addition to various national development areas such as economic diversification, social protection and social services; iv. The initiative of the Government, during the 2014/2015 financial year, of allocating 10% from the Alcohol Levy Fund to women empowerment programs in an effort to improve their participation in the economic development of the country; v. The Maternal and Neonatal Health Program which has accelerated the reduction of maternal and infant mortality rate; vi. The measures put in place to address the country’s high maternal mortality rate, including through the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care program which is being employed to reduce the impact of clandestine and unsafe abortions on maternal mortality; vii. The slight decrease in the maternal mortality ratios (MMR) between 2012 and 2016, which have been fluctuating between 127 and 182.6, which is an improvement when compared to the 2008/2011 ranges of 163 to 195.7; and 7