viii) Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation was initially launched in January 1989 under the name of the Project for the Study of Violence. The Centre has since expanded to become a multi-disciplinary unit, engaging the services of sociologists, psychologists, criminologists, social workers, lawyers, educationalists, historians, etc. The Centre currently has a staff of 40 full-time employees, and accommodates a number of additional contract workers, interns and volunteers. The Centre is dedicated to making a meaningful contribution to peaceful and fundamental transformation in South Africa, and in the Southern African region. The Centre is committed to among others, • • • • • • • helping South Africans to better understand the effects of the past on the present; developing ways to prevent violence and combat its effects, as well as to overcome intolerance; building a human rights culture in South Africa; facilitating the process of "human development" through re-building the "social fabric" and the organs of civil society; the management and facilitation of reconstruction and development initiatives so as to ensure that these do not lead to increased social conflict or violence; the transformation and democratisation of State institutions inherited from the past; and monitoring government progress in building a human rights culture and in transforming state institutions. The Centre has a Criminal Justice Policy Unit (CJPU) which aims at assisting in the democratisation of the criminal justice institutions, in order to make them accountable and transparent; assisting in building the capacity of these institutions so that they can deliver an effective service within the boundaries of the constitutionally entrenched Bill of Rights; and improving civil society's understanding of and ability to engage with issues surrounding criminal justice policy. The CJPU focuses on consolidating its work in the policing and corrections sectors. During this year a new project was initiated, and this broadened the focus into the justice sector as well. 35 Special Rapporteur on Prisons Mission to South Africa 14 – 30 June 2004