A/HRC/24/31 Against Women and Children, the National Council for Child Welfare, the Commission for the Rights of Non-Muslims in Khartoum State, the Special Prosecutor for Darfur crimes, the judiciary and the police. The Independent Expert’s assessment of the effectiveness of these bodies and their respective technical assistance needs is provided in chapter VI of this report. C. Adoption of the 10-year National Action Plan for the Protection of Human Rights 22. Further to the Independent Expert’s recommendations, the Government has adopted a 10-year national action plan for the protection of human rights in the Sudan, which was formally launched in June 2013. The action plan focuses on eight major objectives, including in the following areas: human rights education, law reform, awareness-raising and capacity-building for human rights and international humanitarian law and strengthening partnership between Government and civil society organizations. The plan is expected to be reviewed biannually to evaluate progress made in its implementation. However, details of the plan are yet to be fully sorted out. The plan marks a positive step and provides a clear strategy for the improvement of human rights in the country, and the Government should expedite its implementation. The Government should also establish a high-level body to oversee its implementation, and the ACHR and NCHR should be tasked with monitoring progress made in its implementation. In following the results-oriented approach, the Government should publish an annual report of the tangible results achieved under the national action plan for the protection of human rights to allow the public to evaluate the progress made in its implementation. V. Main human rights challenges 23. In spite of progress made in policy, legislative and institutional development, as described above, Sudan continues to face enormous human rights challenges. The operations of Government security agencies, particularly NSS, have impeded the enjoyment of basic civil and political rights, and recurrent armed conflicts between Government forces and armed rebel groups as well as inter- and intra-tribal clashes continue to result in serious human rights violations and large-scale displacement of civilians in different parts of the country. The security situation in the conflict-affected regions of the country has remained precarious, and impunity for human rights violations remains a recurring problem. The absence, or sometimes weak presence, of formal State institutions in remote parts of the country accounts for the difficult human rights situation in those areas. The enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights also needs to be improved to address the severe poverty affecting particularly women and children in rural areas. 24. The Independent Expert discussed these challenges in his meetings with Government representatives and he hopes that the Government will commit to addressing them urgently as part of its efforts towards improving the human rights situation in the country. A. Curtailment of the activities of civil society organizations 25. In his last report, the Independent Expert highlighted the important role of civil society organizations and urged the Government to foster a more conducive environment for their operations in the Sudan. Regrettably, the Government continued to clamp down on the activities of these organizations during the reporting period. In December 2012, the Government shut down the operations of three organizations and one literary forum. NSS 7