A/HRC/45/CRP.4 109. A survey conducted in 2014-15 found that 81 per cent of survivors agree that the Government should provide compensation to victims of human rights violations and abuses.83 40 per cent of the respondents believed that reparations should be individual, while an equal number supported both collective and individual reparations.84 The same survey also revealed significant support (61 per cent) for memorialisation initiatives as important lessons for future generations, and to see reparations programmes expanded to provide a reminder of the past. All of these needs can be addressed through a comprehensive reparations programme. 110. Since the rationale for reparations programmes is to repair the harm caused by human rights violations, restore civic trust in the state and its institutions, and ensure that citizens are reinstated with full rights, it is critical for these programmes to be developed in consultation with key stakeholders including the government, all political parties, civil society, and victim groups. The Commission underlines that in implementing the transitional justice agenda in South Sudan, victims and vulnerable communities especially women, the internally displaced and refugees, are core stakeholders who must be included in the design and implementation of such mechanisms. Victims in South Sudan have generally been overlooked when it comes to seeking their views with regards to peace, truth, justice, and reconciliation. They have never received any form of reparation for the harm suffered during the conflict. 111. The Commission is of the view that priority should be given to building the institutional and policy frameworks required for the smooth implementation of a long-term reparations programme, as well as an interim reparations programme to address the immediate needs of victims. Preliminary activities that could be undertaken towards a sustainable reparations programme include mapping the potential universe of victims, as well as the nature of harm suffered and the consequences, so as to inform planning and measures. Nationwide consultations should be held with communities affected by the conflict as well as individual victims which would assist to identify potential reparations measures. Consultations should also be about process, including how to ensure that victims are identified and informed of the reparations measures available, the procedures in place to register victims, as well as evidentiary requirements which may apply once the process is underway. This may prove challenging in the South Sudan context, given the scale of ethnic and tribal divisions which will require sensitive context specific approaches, including adequate capacity building. 112. With almost one-third of the South Sudan population displaced, there is also a large risk that victims and communities living in the diaspora may be excluded from the reparation process. Consultations with the internally displaced and refugee communities is therefore critical to ensure that reparations programmes are designed in a targeted manner to reflect their needs. Furthermore, given the staggering scale of sexual and gender-based violence in the current conflict, and the lack of attention it has received from the authorities, it is important to factor a gender-sensitive approach into all aspects of the design and implementation of the reparations programme, including by ensuring that women are well represented in the executive body of the Compensation and Reparations Authority. 113. Funding for reparations will require that the Government of South Sudan reprioritise its spending on the military and security sectors to assist victims. Successful reparations programmes across the world owe their success to the early identification of sustainable funding mechanisms, which include the establishment of a victims’ trust fund drawn from a national budget on an annual basis. This requires political commitment as well as national ownership. If funding is not secured or appropriated at the outset of any transitional justice programme, any discussion of reparations risks raising unreasonable expectations and undermining reconciliation amongst victims and survivors. 114. Notwithstanding the vast amount of resources that have been spent on conflict, and the many other financial demands of setting up the Transitional Government, the R-TGoNU must nevertheless recognise reparations as an integral part of its obligations during the transition, and allocate commensurate resources that will represent societal solidarity and 83 84 South Sudan Law Society, Search for a New Beginning, fn. 14. Ibid., at p. 54 of the survey. 24