The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia will Monday begin Thematic Hearing for Children in Monrovia.

The hearing under theme: "Children and the Conflict in Liberia: What Does The Future Hold?" is aimed at understanding the impact of the conflict and transitional justice mechanisms on the development of Liberian children and their future.

Already the commission has conducted three regional public hearings for children and three panel discussions between the commissioners and children in three regions of the country.

During the three days hearing in Monrovia several children who were direct victims of the Liberian conflict will testify followed by panel discussions with commissioners of the TRC.

In collecting children's experiences of the war, special mechanisms were used to ensure the protection of children throughout the process. These included statement taking, public hearings in camera and public debates between children and the commissioners.

To conform to international standards and to achieve its objectives the commission has been organizing and holding the children hearings in collaboration with UNICEF and the National Child Protection Network (NCPN), a consortium of Child Protection Agencies (CPA).

As part of its mandate, the TRC is required to collect views from different sections of the populace, including children. The TRC Committee on Children is chaired by Commissioner Omu Sylla.

The hearings are focused on events between 1979 and 2003 and the national and external actors that helped to shape those events. The TRC was agreed upon in the August 2003 peace agreement and created by the TRC Act of 2005.

The TRC was established to "promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation," and at the same time make it possible to hold perpetrators accountable for gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law that occurred in Liberia between January 1979 and October 2003.