A/HRC/34/43 (b) The provision of technical support to the campaign to raise awareness of the promotion and protection of women’s rights, organized by the Fondation internationale Thierno et Mariam Thierno, from January to April, in various communes in Conakry, in partnership with the German embassy and the country office; (c) The provision of technical support to the strategic planning workshop for the selection of women candidates in local elections, organized by the National Democratic Institute with financial support from the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Development Programme in May; (d) The provision of technical support to the NGO Alliance pour la promotion de la gouvernance et des initiatives locales (Alliance to promote governance and local initiatives) over the course of three awareness-raising sessions on human rights and youth employment attended by 70 participants; (e) The provision of technical support to the NGO Jeunesse-École-Avenir (Youth-School-Future) during a session for 200 young people to raise awareness of human rights and peace held in March and participation in a session to raise awareness of democracy and African leadership in conjunction with 15 members of the Catholic association Enseignants et éducateurs de Guinée (Teachers and educators of Guinea); (f) The provision of technical and financial support to a consortium of 35 human rights NGOs engaged in advocating for the abolition of the death penalty and the adoption of the draft criminal code, the draft code of criminal procedure, the draft code of military justice and the draft civil code, as revised by the National Assembly at its legislative session in April; (g) The organization in August of two training workshops for 38 human rights defenders and members of human rights NGOs operating in the 15 prefectures of Guinée forestière and Haute-Guinée; (h) The organization in October of a training workshop for 35 members and officers of the NGO Action pour la protection des droits de l’homme (Action for the Defence of Human Rights), operating in the prefecture of Lola in the Nzérékoré region. 73. Lastly, the country office organized several consultation meetings and coordination actions on its premises with NGOs that addressed the current sociopolitical situation from a human rights perspective, the activities planned in support of the national consultations for reconciliation in Guinea and the support afforded to the local election process. These meetings provided an opportunity to share expertise between civil society organizations and the country office and to facilitate the monitoring of reported cases of human rights violations. V. Conclusions and recommendations 74. The High Commissioner acknowledges the efforts made by the Government in implementing its action plan on national reconciliation. It has conducted inclusive and participatory national consultations throughout the national territory. 75. The Government has also initiated significant reforms of its criminal justice system that take many human rights concerns into account. The most important aspects of these reforms include the abolition of the death penalty, the introduction of a definition of torture and an appropriate penalty for that offence, the abolition of magistrate’s courts and the establishment of new courts of first instance and courts of appeal. 14 GE.17-00658