A/HRC/41/33/Add.1 initiative, which they consider a promising practice, will be implemented throughout Honduras and be given sufficient resources. 6 14. The experts are pleased that in 2017 the Ministry of Human Rights was created as an autonomous institution, which undertakes significant efforts to secure the mainstreaming of human rights standards. The ministry is coordinating the Inter-Agency Commission to Monitor Investigations into Violent Deaths of Women and Femicide, established in August 2018, as well as the protection mechanism for human rights defenders and the Inter-Agency Commission to Combat Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons. This ministry and its mechanisms also need to be strengthened to ensure the enforcement of human rights and gender equality in the country. 15. The experts welcome the creation of gender units in the central Government and hope that they will be soon operational in all ministries, that they are given the appropriate budget and that they focus on the needs of all women. The experts also welcome the establishment of municipal offices for women. However, the experts were informed during the visit that not all the municipal offices had received their budget from the central Government. In addition, a number of women have raised concerns that the offices are staffed and funded according to party loyalties rather than according to the professional expertise and merits of the programmes. 16. The experts also appreciate the work done by the Office of the National Commissioner for Human Rights, which has regional offices in all departments of Honduras. They hope that in the near future the Office will be able to comply with the requirements of the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), in particular with regard to its financial resources, cooperation with other entities, pluralism and independence, and regain its A status. C. Administration and access to justice 17. The Working Group acknowledges that the Government has adopted multiple initiatives to improve access to justice and accountability for discrimination and violence against women. These improvements include upgrading the Ministry of Human Rights; establishing 10 Special Prosecutors’ Offices, including one for human rights; doubling the number of prosecutors and the budget of the Attorney General’s Office; establishing a vetting process to identify corrupt police officers; and opening new courts in rural areas. There are also plans under way to establish a new competitive process for the selection of judges and to adopt a plan aimed at reducing delays in judicial proceedings. The experts stress the importance of these plans incorporating a gender focus. 18. Moreover, efforts were made to modernize the administration of justice, including the installation of a gender unit within the Supreme Court, training and awareness-raising for court personnel on gender and reforms to criminal and civil procedures. However, significant gaps persist, such as in relation to the pursuit of a judicial career and the adoption of legislation on the Council of the Judiciary and Judicial Service. Moreover, a more targeted focus on improving women’s access to justice needs to be included. 19. The experts note persistent failings concerning women’s access to justice, which is essential for the realization of all their rights and is a fundamental element of the rule of law and good governance, together with the independence, impartiality, integrity and credibility of the judiciary, the fight against impunity and corruption, and the equal participation of women in the judiciary and other law implementation mechanisms. Many of the components of the right to access to justice7 are not guaranteed to most women in Honduras. 6 7 More resources (human, financial and material) are needed, in particular from the Ministry of Health. Health services are the most sought after under the initiative. See Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation 33 (2015) on women’s access to justice. 5