S/2017/249 peace. February 2016 marked the end of the first phase of implementation of the national action plan on Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008). The Government recognized gaps in meeting its obligations under resolution 1820 (2008) and committed to allocating a dedicated budget, strengthening coordination and more closely involving victims’ associations moving forward. The United Nations trained survivors of wartime sexual violence in advocacy, leadership and resource-mobilization skills, which encouraged many to share their stories, and organized a peer-counselling workshop for survivors, facilitated by women from Guatemala and Cambodia. UNICEF partnered with the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare to ensure that “conflict-affected children”, a category that includes children born as a result of rape by armed forces or groups during the insurgency, would be eligible for services and protection from the State. The country’s transitional justice commissions, which are operating under severe delays, have received approximately 250 complaints of conflict-related sexual violence, and will require adequate resources to process them. Recommendation 82. I urge the Government of Nepal to formally recognize survivors of conflictrelated sexual violence as victims of war, enabling them to access national relief and recovery programmes and helping to reduce stigma; to support the transitional justice commissions to administer survivor-centred justice; and to focus the second phase of its national action plan on services and reparations. Sri Lanka 83. Seven years after the end of its 30-year civil war, Sri Lanka has embarked on a process of transitional justice and reconciliation. Yet, just as the conflict had a disproportionate impact on women’s physical and economic security, the post conflict environment has placed a heavy financial and care burden on women. Single women head one quarter of all households. Their plight is compounded by the sociocultural stigma attached to widowhood and to sexual violence, as well as by the limited psychosocial support available to those traumatized by war. The culture of violence, entrenched during the civil war era, is viewed as a driver of continuing gender-based crimes, which afflict all nine provinces. The situation is exacerbated by weak law enforcement and delays in the administration of justice. 84. In November 2016, the Committee against Torture observed that serious allegations of torture of a sexual nature continue. The International Truth and Justice Project released a report documenting 20 cases of sexual violence and torture, including eight gang rapes and five rapes of minors, allegedly committed by members of the police and military intelligence in 2015, and called for effective reform and vetting of the national security apparatus. The United Nations has requested that the authorities duly investigate the allegations. On 16 November, the Government launched a national action plan to address sexual and gender -based violence, which generated a specific policy to support women -headed households, including in previously conflict-affected areas of the north and east. In January 2016, the Government appointed a civil society task force to conduct a national consultation on the design of an inclusive transitional justice mechanism. The task force, which includes the voices of sexual violence survivors, has made valuable recommendations, including on institutional reform. 17-05090 25/33