CAT/C/60/3 F. Special Fund established under the Optional Protocol 32. 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 relevant Subcommittee recommendations made following a visit to a State party. In 2016, grants amounting to $240,000 were awarded through the Fund to support torture prevention projects in seven States parties. The call for applications for 2017 closed on 1 March 2017. In June 2017, the Subcommittee will provide strategic advice to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the selection of the new projects to which grants will be awarded. 33. The Subcommittee is concerned that the Fund remains significantly short of resources. It welcomes that by the end of 2016 contributions had been received from Argentina ($10,000), Czechia ($8,000), Germany ($220,000) and Spain ($39,000), which enables the Fund to continue to support projects on torture prevention through the 20172018 grant cycle. Further contributions are needed in order to sustain the work of the Special Fund beyond 2018. The Subcommittee believes that the Fund provides an essential tool for implementing Subcommittee recommendations on the ground and thereby preventing torture and ill-treatment, and urges States to continue to support the Fund financially. III. Engagement with other bodies in the field of torture prevention A. 1. International cooperation Cooperation with other United Nations bodies 34. The Chair of the Subcommittee presented the ninth annual report of the Subcommittee (CAT/C/57/4 and Corr.1) to the Committee against Torture, on 28 April 2016, at the plenary meeting of the Committee. The Subcommittee and Committee met jointly in Geneva on 16 November 2016 to discuss issues related to the Nelson Mandela Rules, as indicated in paragraph 13 above. 35. In conformity with General Assembly resolution 70/146, and together with the Chair of the Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, who presented their respective reports, the Subcommittee Chair presented the ninth annual report of the Subcommittee to the General Assembly at its seventieth session, on 18 October 2016. 36. Continuing the Subcommittee’s involvement in the annual meetings of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies, the Subcommittee Chair participated in the twenty-eighth meeting of the Chairs, held in New York from 30 May to 3 June 2016. 37. The Subcommittee joined the Committee against Torture, the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture in issuing a statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (26 June). The Subcommittee continued to cooperate systematically with other mechanisms, including by transmitting to the Committee against Torture suggestions for it to consider concerning States parties to the Optional Protocol the reports of which are to be considered at forthcoming sessions of the Committee. 38. The Subcommittee continued its cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, particularly in the context of its field visits. 2. Cooperation with other relevant international organizations 39. The Subcommittee continued its cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, particularly in the context of its field visits. 7