A/RES/55/116 1. Welcomes: (a) The interim report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Sudan; 7 (b) The visit by the Special Rapporteur to the Sudan in February and March 2000 at the invitation of the Government of the Sudan and the very good cooperation extended by the Government in this regard, as well as the stated willingness of the Government to continue to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur; (c) The signing of the agreement of 29 March 2000 between the Government of the Sudan and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; (d) The activities of the Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children as a constructive response on the part of the Government of the Sudan, the cooperation extended to the Committee by the local communities and the support of the international community and non-governmental organizations; (e) The expressed commitment of the Government of the Sudan to respect and promote human rights and the rule of law and its expressed commitment to a process of democratization with a view to establishing a representative and accountable government, reflecting the aspirations of the people of the Sudan; (f) Recent additional efforts by the Government of the Sudan to improve freedom of expression, association, the press and assembly, in particular the adoption of the Political Organization Act of 2000, and the announcement relating to the creation of a high commission to review the law on public order; (g) The stipulation of basic human rights and freedoms in the Constitution of the Sudan and the establishment of the Constitutional Court, which has been in operation since April 1999; (h) The efforts to implement the right to education; (i) The renewed invitation extended by the Government of the Sudan to the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on religious intolerance and the efforts of the Government of the Sudan to promulgate a new law on religious liberties and activities after an open and transparent process of consultation with high representatives of all religions; (j) Leniency measures taken by the Government of the Sudan, which led to the release of a large number of imprisoned women; (k) The release of political prisoners and the measures taken to allow the return of exiled opposition members; (l) The recent shelter given by the Sudan to new groups of refugees; (m) The commitments undertaken by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement during the visit to Rumbek, southern Sudan, of the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, not to recruit into its armed forces children under the age of eighteen and to demobilize all child soldiers still remaining in the military and hand them over to the competent civil authorities for reintegration; 7 2 See A/55/374.