A/HRC/13/63 page 24 eastern region, armed conflict continue to present significant challenges to the delivery of health care. Some localities are left without any health care or have irregular access thereto because of the security situation. In addition, where health-care facilities exist, the need for basic supplies, equipment and medicines often remains unmet. 96. In order to improve access to health care, greater mobilization and allocation of targeted resources are needed to support the abolition of user fees and an accompanying increase in public support for improving health-care infrastructure, supplies, equipment, human resources and medicine supplies. While international humanitarian assistance continues to meet some of the medical needs of the population, including those displaced by conflict, a long-term strategy is needed to ensure that health-care provision will be guaranteed by the Government for all, without discrimination. Immediate action is still required to ensure that the whole population has access to medical services, safe water and sanitation to avert an exacerbation of the public health crisis. 97. Thanks to support from Canada and Belgium and in line with the experts’ recommendation,47 fees for forensic medical certificates for victims of sexual violence in the provinces of Equateur, Maniema, Orientale and in North and South Kivu have been abolished. However, women in other parts of the country continue to pay for the processes, examinations and care linked to forensic medical certificates, meaning that justice remains financially inaccessible for poor victims. H. Strengthening State and civil society structures to promote and protect human rights48 98. When this report was finalized, no progress had been made on the recommended adoption of national and provincial laws on the protection of human rights defenders, including women defenders.49 During her visit, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders welcomed that the President of the National Assembly and the President of the Senate had acknowledged the need to adopt such legislation at the national level, and was encouraged to have obtained their commitment to having Parliament examine a draft law during their next session. She welcomed the recent attempt to adopt a provincial law on human rights defenders in South Kivu at the initiative of the civil society, and called on provincial parliamentarians to adopt a revised text. However, at the time of drafting the present report, no steps had been taken towards the adoption of such legislation. Instead, the experts note with concern that certain senior figures of authority have publicly sought to delegitimize the work of human rights defenders, fuelling the increased harassment, intimidation and violence that defenders face on the ground. 99. The draft law on the establishment of a national human rights commission, which was adopted by the Senate in July 2008, is reportedly still pending before the National Assembly. The experts underline that the future institution should be 47 See A/HRC/10/59, para. 111. 48 See also A/HRC/13/22/Add.2. 49 See A/HRC/10/59, para. 114.