A/HRC/10/59 page 23 have the obligation to protect the population from violence, provide access to justice and create conditions in which the basic needs of the population are secured. The Congolese State largely abdicated these responsibilities during decades of autocratic rule, followed by years of armed conflict that further eroded the institutional capacity of the authorities at all levels. In many ways, human rights concerns in the DRC centre around the question what the State fails to do for its people, rather than what it does to them. 87. The seven thematic special procedures welcome the many strategy papers and action plans in human rights relevant areas that the Government, often in cooperation with the international community, has prepared. Such documents are first steps: they only obtain meaning if they are actually implemented by the responsible Government authorities. Technical assistance, as the term indicates, can only assist the Government in the implementation process, but cannot replace government action. 88. Armed conflict has ended in most of the country and the elected authorities are now in place to implement much needed reforms without delay on the ground. This being said, the seven thematic special procedures recognize that considerable parts of the east of the DRC still experience armed conflict. The existing armed conflicts exacerbate the extent and severity of human rights violations and also pose a challenge to implementing government initiatives and accompanying technical assistance measures to address structural human rights concerns in key areas such as the justice and security sectors. The resolution of the armed conflicts in DRC will require multilateral political processes involving Governments of the DRC, neighbouring countries and beyond. However, political settlements achieved will only be sustainable, if the authorities seriously and immediately address the human rights concerns underlying the conflicts and the international community is prepared to dedicate the necessary technical assistance to this crucial element of successful peacebuilding. The absence of peace in the entire territory must not be an excuse to delay reforms, but makes it ever more urgent to undertake them. A. Priority objectives and technical assistance needs in this regard 89. The baseline assessment carried out by the seven thematic special procedures highlights that the human rights problems in the entire territory of the DRC are serious, multifaceted and deeply rooted in the political, economic and social dynamics at the local, national and regional levels. On the basis of their assessment, the authors have identified eight priority objectives for Government action along with technical assistance needs in this regard. While several of them are reform areas where human rights actors (e.g. the human rights and rule of law components of MONUC) have key roles in assisting the Government, other actors will have to take the lead in other areas that are equally important from a human rights perspective, with human rights actors only playing a complementary role. 90. To a large extent the seven thematic special procedures have drawn on existing recommendations that are longstanding and have been reiterated many times by the United Nations, civil society organizations and experts. These include the sets of recommendations formulated by those among the seven mandate holders who visited the