CAT/C/63/4 with the national preventive mechanisms of Estonia, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Maldives, Peru and Tunisia. 23. 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 its members’ attendance. F. Substantial non-compliance with article 17 24. At its twenty-seventh session the Subcommittee decided to identify those States parties whose establishment of their national preventive mechanism was substantially overdue and to record them on a list, available on the Subcommittee’s website.1 The list will continue to be revised at each session of the Subcommittee, and States 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 2017, 14 States parties were listed: Argentina, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Chile, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nauru, Nigeria, Panama and Philippines. This remains a matter of great concern to the Subcommittee, particularly since some States parties still appear to be making little progress towards fulfilling their obligations. 25. In accordance with its mandate under article 11 (b) (i) of the Optional Protocol, and in order to assist them in fulfilling their article 17 obligations, the Subcommittee invited all those States included on the list to a plenary meeting of the Subcommittee during its thirtysecond session, and provided an additional opportunity to meet with the respective country rapporteurs. The Permanent Representatives of the following countries attended the meeting: Argentina, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Chile, Gabon, Lebanon and Panama. G. Special Fund established under the Optional Protocol 26. 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 Subcommittee recommendations made following a visit to a State party. In 2017, grants amounting to $273,096 were awarded through the Fund to support 11 torture prevention projects in nine States parties during their implementation in 2018. The Subcommittee has assisted in the assessment of project proposals and recommendations for grants. 27. The Subcommittee greatly appreciates the contributions to the Fund received in the reporting period from Czechia ($9,164), Germany ($139,040) and Spain ($41,274). Nevertheless, it remains concerned that the Fund is still significantly short of resources and further contributions will be necessary in order to support projects during the 2018–2019 grant cycle and beyond. The Subcommittee believes that the Fund provides an essential tool for supporting and complementing the implementation of Subcommittee recommendations aimed at the prevention of torture and ill-treatment, and urges States to continue to support the Fund financially. The Subcommittee would like to thank the Permanent Mission of Czechia for its generosity in hosting an event in support of the Special Fund during the thirty-third session of the Subcommittee. 1 6 See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/OPCAT/Pages/Article17.aspx.