A/HRC/7/66 page 14 48. On 9 August, the President of Sierra Leone released 50 prisoners who had been serving jail sentences in the various prisons around the country as a farewell gesture of goodwill. The release did not include any of the 20 prisoners on death row. D. Capacity-building 49. Under the Action 2 programme, significant progress was made in building the capacity of United Nations agencies and key government institutions to apply rights-based approaches in all their programmes. The Section conducted eight training programmes for the United Nations country team, the Government and civil society organizations. A total of 218 people, including heads of United Nations agencies, programme officers and senior government officials, took part. 50. Following the release of the report on the national assessment of prisons by the Section, a manual on national and international prison standards and training modules was developed and training programmes conducted for a total of 200 senior prison officers. These activities are undoubtedly contributing to the protection of the rights of prisoners and the promotion of their well-being, albeit at a very slow pace. Building the capacity of prisons and justice sector institutions has also improved adherence to human rights standards in the administration of justice. 51. The Section is working with the Bar Association to build capacity for the protection of human rights, the promotion of democracy and the rule of law. A consultative conference on the status of the justice system was held on 4 December, in which over 120 representatives from the bench, the bar, the Government and civil society participated and made a number of recommendations. UNIOSIL is also working with the Law Reform Commission and the Constitutional Review Commission to bring national laws into line with international standards and to reflect the changing conditions in the country since the Constitution was adopted in 1991. The Section is also serving as technical adviser on the institutional framework and implementation modalities for the establishment of a reparation programme to the task force appointed by the Government. 52. Following the adoption of the three gender bills and the Child Rights Act, the Section conducted two national awareness-raising initiatives on the bills in collaboration with national and international partners. The first was conducted in July for 380 paramount chiefs and traditional leaders; the second, conducted in November and December, was attended by 338 paramount chiefs, traditional leaders, local court officials and civil society organizations. 53. A vibrant, robust civil society is necessary to build a culture of respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law. In addition to joint activities and sustained collaborative action on a number of activities, the UNIOSIL Human Rights Section conducted six training programmes to build the capacity of human rights organizations in the various districts of Sierra Leone for a total of 280 human rights monitors and advocates, while 48 weekly one-hour radio programmes on human rights were broadcast. The level of commitment of civil society organizations that have been trained has improved and many are now engaged in programmes of monitoring and reporting, as well as sensitization and advocacy, all of which continue to contribute to the consolidation of peace.