A/HRC/9/14 page 12 committee was unable to work properly because of lack of respect of the agreement of 2 November 2007. Several meetings were adjourned unilaterally by the president of that committee. It was reported that some representatives of the Government and civil society were under pressure from the Government to focus the work of the committee on national reconciliation rather than on the truth and reconciliation commission and the special tribunal. 39. The whole process was to run for 12 months from the approval of the project by the Peacebuilding Fund in June 2008. It is obvious that there will be a delay in the process because of the methodology proposed by the members of the steering committee, which requires all members to participate in all consultations in the country, instead of having separate meetings under the leadership of each member. Given the size of the country and the maximum numbers of the participants expected, this methodology will inevitably create an additional burden on the committee. 40. In the meantime, some members of the diplomatic corps and international non-governmental organizations have set up a group called the “Friends of Burundi”, to support the transitional justice process. The aim of this initiative is to reiterate the interest of the international community in the process and to foster dialogue between stakeholders. It is to be composed of the representatives of the European Union, the African Union, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States of America. C. Independent national human rights commission 41. Progress was made in the process of establishing an independent national human rights commission during the reporting period. The Government of Burundi had included the establishment of such a commission in the formulation of its poverty reduction strategic plan as a priority for the period 2006-2009. In his reports to the General Assembly (A/61/360, para. 118) and to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/4/5, para. 91), the independent expert recommended that the international community should support the Government in establishing a credible and independent human rights commission in order to reinforce the national capacity to protect and promote human rights in Burundi. 42. The international community, through the Peacebuilding Commission, approved a project to support preparatory consultations in view of the establishment of an independent human rights commission. The Preparatory consultations were launched at a major gathering on 26 December 2006 by the President of Burundi. The project is one of a number of priority projects for peace consolidation in Burundi and was coordinated by the ministry in charge of human rights. It also benefited from the support of other partners, namely BINUB, OHCHR and the United Nations Development Programme. The inaugural workshop was followed by a series of sensitization activities, such as seminars and media debates on national human rights institutions, between May and December 2007, in all regions of the country. Participants included human rights non-governmental organizations, the media, religious groups, defence and security forces, women and youth groups, the Batwa minority group and community elders (Bashingantahe).