A/HRC/27/21 Reparation (2007) and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, advocating for gender-sensitive reparations.49 Also, in 2014, the SecretaryGeneral issued a guidance note on reparations for conflict-related sexual violence, to provide further policy and operational guidance for United Nations engagement in this area. 46. Reparations occupy a special place among redress measures in view of their potential direct impact on victims of gender-based and sexual violence.50 As such, it is particularly critical that victims of gender-based and sexual violence be involved in the design and implementation of reparations. Victims know their needs and priorities best, and are uniquely placed to address concerns about the modalities and distribution of reparations, including with regard to ensuring that benefits are accessible, equitable and effective. Accordingly, victim consultations have been a priority in several States. OHCHR, in collaboration with local stakeholders, has conducted extensive consultations with victims of gender-based and sexual violence in Nepal, Uganda and Kosovo.51 47. Supporting the effective participation of victims of gender-based and sexual violence in reparation efforts first requires outreach and awareness-raising activities. Outreach efforts should begin long before the reparations programme is fully designed and must be cognizant of the obstacles to victims’ effective participation in transitional justice. Supportive spaces, confidentiality protection and the involvement of staff trained in genderbased and sexual violence are essential. In Uganda, OHCHR and the Uganda Human Rights Commission have been conducting training since 2008 to build awareness of reparations, while simultaneously conducting research on the views of conflict-affected communities. During outreach, codes in local languages have been used to refer to body parts and genderbased and sexual violence, allowing victims to circumvent the taboo of speaking about sexual violence.52 48. The criteria and procedures for accessing reparations must also be gender-sensitive. The imposition of strict application deadlines or closed-list systems, whether linked to participation in truth commissions or otherwise, is likely to exclude some victims. In Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste, the truth commissions decided that the potential list of victims should be kept open in order to ensure the widest possible access. Similarly, due to stigma, forcing survivors to “come out” as victims of gender-based and sexual violence in order to gain access to reparations may deter many. In Timor-Leste, rather than singling out victims of sexual violence, the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) recommended that the reparations be available to categories including single mothers, widows, and children affected by conflict, as well as survivors of gender-based and sexual violence, adding a layer of protection and confidentiality to female victims coming forward.53 Access criteria must also be sensitive to the difficulties women and children face in complying with formal requirements, such as providing official documentation or holding a bank account, and to literacy and linguistic barriers. In Guatemala, victims of the internal armed conflict are offered psychological assistance and rehabilitation adapted to their ethnic and cultural identity. The National Reparations Programme there has issued two 49 50 51 52 53 14 See A/HRC/14/22. See also Inter-American Court on Human Rights, González et al. (“Cotton Field”) v. Mexico, Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs, judgement of 16 November 2009. Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-conflict States: Reparations Programmes (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.08.XIV.3), p. 3. See, for example, OHCHR, Healing the Spirit: Reparations for Survivors of Sexual Violence Related to the Armed Conflict in Kosovo (2013). OHCHR, ‘The Dust Has Not Yet Settled’: Victims’ Views on the Right to Remedy and Reparation (2011), pp. 26–27. See also Feinstein International Center and others, Making Gender-Just Remedy and Reparation Possible (2013). CAVR, Chega!, chap. 11, p. 41.