CAT/C/69/3 E. Developments concerning national preventive mechanisms 23. The Subcommittee has continued to engage in dialogue with State parties and signatories at its sessions concerning the designation or functioning of their national preventive mechanisms. At its thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth sessions, it held meetings or teleconferences with representatives of Argentina, Australia, Belize, Benin, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, Colombia (as signatory), Cyprus (national preventive mechanism), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark (national preventive mechanism), Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon, Guatemala (national preventive mechanism), Honduras (national preventive mechanism), Madagascar, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, New Zealand (national preventive mechanism), Nicaragua, the Niger, Nigeria, Panama (national preventive mechanism), Peru (national preventive mechanism), Poland, Portugal, South Sudan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (national preventive mechanism), Uruguay (national preventive mechanism), the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the State of Palestine. 24. In accordance with its mandate under article 11 (b) (ii) of the Optional Protocol, the Subcommittee established and maintained direct contact with national preventive mechanisms. During its sessions in 2019, in addition to its meeting with them during its visits, the Subcommittee met or held videoconferences with the national preventive mechanisms of Cyprus, Denmark, Guatemala, Honduras, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 25. The Subcommittee and its members have continued to receive invitations to attend numerous national, regional and international meetings on the designation, establishment and development of national preventive mechanisms in particular and on the Optional Protocol in general. The Subcommittee is grateful to the organizers of those and all other events to which it has been invited. It regrets that its participation must remain conditional on the financial support of others, as it has no budget allocation with which to fund the attendance of its members. The Subcommittee also would be grateful if all invitations to official events and discussions could be made through the Subcommittee secretariat in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). F. Substantial non-compliance with article 17 26. At its twenty-seventh session, the Subcommittee decided to identify State parties whose establishment of their national preventive mechanism was substantially overdue and to record them on a list.5 The list is revised at each session of the Subcommittee, and State parties will be removed from the list once the threshold for such removal is met, namely, that the Subcommittee has received (a) notification of the official designation of the national preventive mechanism; and (b) copies of the documentation providing for its establishment and effective functioning. As at 31 December 2019, 13 State parties were listed: Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Mongolia, Nauru, the Niger, Nigeria and the Philippines. 27. This remains a matter of great concern to the Subcommittee, particularly since some of these State parties still appear to be making little if any progress towards fulfilling their obligations. G. Special Fund established under the Optional Protocol 28. Support provided through the Special Fund established under article 26 (1) of the Optional Protocol is directed towards projects aimed at establishing or strengthening national preventive mechanisms, thereby contributing to the implementation of the relevant recommendations made by the Subcommittee following a visit to a State party. In 2019, grants amounting to $276,494 were awarded through the Special Fund to support 12 torture prevention projects in 10 State parties during their implementation in 2020. The 5 6 See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/Article17.aspx.