CAT/OP/C/57/4 Permanent Missions of Bulgaria, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Poland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine. It held preparatory meetings with all the States parties it planned to visit and, in accordance with its new practice, also invited States parties that it had visited since its previous session to meet with it. The Subcommittee also met a delegation from the European Union to discuss the treatment of asylum seekers. At the twenty-sixth session, the Subcommittee held a meeting with States parties to the Optional Protocol, 22 of which attended: Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Norway, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Ukraine and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. States parties were updated on the recent activities of the Subcommittee, discussed the treaty body strengthening process and considered the future direction of the Subcommittee’s work. 24. The Subcommittee established and maintained contact with national preventive mechanisms themselves, in accordance with its mandate under article 11 (b) (ii) of the Optional Protocol. The Subcommittee held videoconferences with the national preventive mechanisms of Ecuador, Malta and Ukraine and met with the national preventive mechanism of France. It also met with representatives of the Australian Human Rights Commission. 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. Information concerning those events is available on the Subcommittee website. 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 means of its own with which to fund its members’ attendance. 26. During the course of 2015, the Subcommittee assisted national preventive mechanisms by responding to a number of requests for interpretive assistance on the provisions of the Optional Protocol and the application of a preventive approach to specific situations. As such advice is of general interest, a compilation of the advice provided is contained in the annex to the present report and is available on the Subcommittee website. F. Special Fund established by the Optional Protocol 27. The purpose of the Special Fund established under article 26 (1) of the Optional Protocol is to help finance the implementation of Subcommittee recommendations made following a visit to a State party, and the establishment and/or effective functioning of national preventive mechanisms.3 The Subcommittee is deeply concerned that in 2015 only one contribution, of $30,000, was made. Contributions are urgently needed in order to sustain and consolidate the Special Fund and its work. 28. The Subcommittee believes that the collaborative manner in which the Special Fund is currently administered reflects the aspirations of the drafters of the Optional Protocol. In particular, the Subcommittee believes that the focused and country-specific guidance that it can provide concerning its recommendations is essential in order to maximize the preventive impact of the grants made. The Subcommittee hopes that the Fund will continue to support projects that are essential for the effective prevention of torture and ill-treatment, 3 6 The Special Fund receives voluntary contributions from Governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations and other private and public entities.