A/HRC/41/31 psychosocial support workers. After the hearings, the persons who had been interviewed received psychological support. The team calls on the military justice authorities to institutionalize these practices with a view to ensuring that investigations are conducted independently and in an appropriate manner. 53. As regards legal aid, the bar association of Kananga runs a legal clinic in Kananga that helps victims to take legal action. There is also a project entitled Combating Genderbased Violence: Justice, Empowerment and Dignity for Women and Girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is being implemented jointly by the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office. One of the aims of this project is to strengthen legal aid mechanisms for victims of sexual violence in certain regions of the country, including Kasai Central. This project is also partly focused on supporting efforts to provide medical care and psychosocial support to victims and to ensure their socioeconomic reintegration. Médecins sans frontières (international) is active in Kasai Central, where it deploys mobile clinics to provide surgical, medical and psychosocial assistance to victims of sexual violence. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health, Family and Gender Issues of Kasai Central Province is involved in a campaign to raise awareness of sexual violence among traditional leaders and the general public. 54. The team of international experts notes that almost all victim support initiatives are being run by external partners. Given the ever-increasing need for support,39 the State must, in accordance with its Constitution40 and the National Strategy to Combat Gender-based Violence of 2009, shoulder its responsibilities in this regard and seek to ensure the longterm future of the mechanisms that are supported by international partners. B. Reconciliation and transitional justice in the Kasai region 55. Noting that criminal penalties alone would not be sufficient to prevent violence from recurring, the previous team of international experts recommended that the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo engage in an inclusive process of transitional justice aimed at establishing the truth, identifying the root causes of the crisis and providing redress to victims, in order to ensure reconciliation. 41 56. The team of international experts notes that the Government held a forum for peace, reconciliation and development in the Kasai region, from 19 to 22 September 2017 in Kananga. The then Prime Minister stated that the aim of this forum was to promote the restoration of peace, reconciliation and the reconstruction of Kasai.42 57. At the time of writing the present report, the team of international experts had no knowledge of the conclusions and recommendations issued as a result of the forum and noted that there was no follow-up mechanism. 58. In order to gain a better understanding of the issue of reconciliation in Kasai, the team of international experts held a workshop in Kananga on 17 and 18 April 2019. This workshop brought together around 60 persons from the five provinces of the Kasai region. The participants included representatives of the provincial authorities, traditional leaders, members of the Catholic clergy, academics and researchers from the Kasai region, members of the bar association, members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the national police, and representatives of civil society organizations. 39 40 41 42 GE.19-07485 Although the fighting has abated since August 2017, sexual violence remains persistent in Kasai. See, for example: Médecins sans frontières (international), “Sexual violence committed by armed men in Kasai”, 1 November 2018, available at www.msf.org/drc-sexual-violence-committed-armed-menkasai. See also the data provided by Médecins sans frontières (international) to the secretariat of the team of international experts. See articles 14, 15 and 41 of the Constitution. A/HRC/38/31, para. 111 (a). See Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala’s statement of 23 September 2017, available at www.primature.cd/public/2017/09/23/bruno-tshibala-affirme-que-le-forum-sur-la-paix-dans-le-grandkasai-sest-tres-bien-passe/. 13