CAT/C/42/2 page 16 able to take these activities forwards. The SPT has continued to use the valuable materials and information produced by the APT, in the context of the preparation for visits and for interaction with NPMs. 59. The SPT has remained in close contact with Bristol University’s OPCAT Project and has exchanged ideas and views on a number of issues central to the SPT’s work. The project team has been involved in organizing regional activities and has provided a critical external academic perspective concerning aspects of the SPT’s work, for which the SPT is very grateful. 60. The OPCAT Contact Group (OCG) has continued to assist, advise and support the SPT, including financially, in particular by making it possible for SPT members to participate in important meetings related to the OPCAT (see paragraph 39 above and annex V below). The SPT meets with the OCG during each of its plenary sessions. This provides an important formal opportunity for the sharing of information and ideas, in addition to the many informal contacts and communications with organizations in the group. The SPT appreciates the support and interest of the OCG, which has contributed substantially to its development of working methods and to the work of the SPT in relation to NPMs. 61. The SPT notes with appreciation the continuing contribution made by civil society both to promoting ratification of, or accession to, the OPCAT, and to the implementation process. VI. ADMINISTRATIVE AND BUDGETARY MATTERS A. Resources in 2008/2009 62. Article 25 of the OPCAT states that the “expenditure incurred by the Subcommittee on Prevention in the implementation of the present Protocol shall be borne by the United Nations” and that the “Secretary-General of the United Nations shall provide the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance of the functions of the Subcommittee on Prevention under the present Protocol”. 63. Since the SPT began its work in 2007, it remains the case that no United Nations funding has been provided for the SPT to carry out its mandate in relation to NPMs and no funding is foreseen for this work for the period up to the end of 2009. Over the first three crucial years of the SPT’s activities, United Nations support for SPT work with NPMs will have been restricted to contact in Geneva during the three one-week plenary sessions or during an SPT visit. With funding only available for nine visits in the period from SPT inception until the end of 2009, the SPT will have visited less than one fifth of the States parties and their NPMs in these first three years. The SPT has tried to find creative options to support its vital work in this area and has made detailed proposals, with justifications, for a revision of the original budget assumptions for the biennium 2010-2011 (see part C below). B. Secretariat of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture 64. In May 2008 the SPT welcomed the arrival of its first Secretary, Mr Patrice Gillibert, after a series of acting secretaries over the course of the first fifteen months of operations. The Secretary to the SPT has already proved a great asset, through participation in the three visits carried out following his arrival in post and by virtue of his efforts to improve the organization