A/HRC/29/49 D. Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission 77. The victims of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are entitled to truth, justice, reparations and non-repetition of the abuses that they have suffered. The Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission consisted of 10 national commissioners and 37 local commissions. The commissions were largely open to broad participation and included religious and traditional leaders, women, young people, representatives of civil society and of the Economic Community of West African States. The Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission had a three-year mandate. 78. The Commission’s most important task was to restore and strengthen social cohesion between communities in Côte d’Ivoire. It heard 72,483 persons, including 28,064 women and 757 children. It also held public hearings, although they were not broadcast by the audiovisual media services. The final report of the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission was submitted to the President of the Republic on 15 December 2014. It has not yet been published and it is therefore difficult to give a detailed opinion on the outcome of the Commission’s work. 79. Nevertheless, the information collected by the Independent Expert was often critical of the work of the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In particular, its hearings were criticized for not being accessible enough to the public. The places where the hearings were held were not sufficiently publicized and the audiovisual media did not broadcast them. 80. There is no doubt that the lack of publicity surrounding the Commission’s hearings may have reduced the benefits it would have otherwise brought to victims. Although there are a few legitimate exceptions, victims generally need their grievances to be recognized publicly and the crimes that caused them to be denounced as what they were. It is thus advisable that the Commission’s report be made public. The content belongs to the victims and to all Ivorians, since they have the right to be informed of the nature and extent of the criminal acts committed. 81. On receiving the Commission’s report, the President of the Republic formally announced the establishment of a fund to provide reparations for victims. He allocated 10 million CFA francs to the fund for 2015 and has called upon the international community to offer its support. This initiative should be commended and encouraged because it puts the victims of the violence that has cast a shadow over the country at the heart of the debate on reconciliation. It will, of course, be necessary to define the notion of a victim, as someone legally entitled to reparations, to coordinate the list of victims compiled by the Commission with those drawn up by different government departments, to decide on the types of and modalities for reparation and to appoint an authority to be in charge of putting the initiative in place in the most efficient and transparent way. The Independent Expert calls upon the international community to offer financial and technical assistance to the fund, which is one of the pillars of lasting national reconciliation, in order to allow reparations to be awarded to the victims. E. National Programme for Social Cohesion 82. The violence that marked the past two decades has sown discord and mistrust among the different communities in Ivorian society. It is necessary to bring back harmony and trust among Ivorians in order to build a lasting peace and restore a climate that favours human development. The National Programme for Social Cohesion was established to achieve that goal. The Programme was launched in 2012 for a renewable period of four years. It is run by a national coordination group and has regional branches. The Programme has been GE.15-08296 15