A/HRC/27/42 B. National and provincial entités de liaison 48. During the reporting period, all provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo were equipped with a provincial entité de liaison, a forum of discussion on human rights violations involving the authorities and human rights partners, including UNJHRO. The steering committee of the national entité de liaison was set up on 25 January 2014 and is chaired by the Prime Minister. However, the entités de liaison should be properly financed and resourced in order to be operational. VII. Cooperation with United Nations human rights mechanisms A. Universal periodic review 49. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council reviewed the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 29 April 2014.25 UNJHRO organized a live transmission of the session for representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, NGOs and the diplomatic community in Kinshasa. On 2 May 2014, the Working Group adopted its final report on the review of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which contained 229 recommendations. The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo accepted 190 of the recommendations. 50. Many States urged the Government to strengthen efforts to combat sexual violence by ensuring that all perpetrators are brought to justice and victims gain increased access to justice. Many also called on the authorities to ensure that the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly be respected; to enact legislation to give effect to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; and to operationalize the national human rights commission. 51. The recommendations rejected by the Government included a call to abolish the death penalty, and a request to extend a standing invitation to all special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council. 52. The universal periodic review process was supported throughout by UNJHRO. The Office held workshops for Government officials and civil society members in preparation for the review. On 20 and 21 November 2013, in Kinshasa, UNJHRO and the Carter Center organized a workshop for 27 NGO representatives and human rights groups on the submission procedure for NGO contributions to the review. The workshop also served as a platform to discuss the recommendations issued in the 2009 universal periodic review of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and how the second review process could be used to address the most important human rights concerns. From 16 to 20 December 2013, in Kinshasa, OHCHR trained 42 individuals, including members of the Interministerial Committee on Human Rights and NGO representatives, on how to submit reports for the universal periodic review and to the United Nations human rights treaty bodies. On 21 and 22 January 2014, in Kinshasa, UNJHRO held a workshop that included ministers and civil society actors, to review the State report. As a result of UNJHRO efforts, several NGOs submitted quality contributions to the universal periodic review and the Government submitted its State party report to the Human Rights Council in a timely manner. 25 The documents are available from www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/CDSession19.aspx. 15