A/70/44 I. Organizational and other matters A. States parties to the Convention 1. As at 15 May 2015, the closing date of the fifty-fourth session of the Committee against Torture, there were 158 States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 39/46 and entered into force on 26 June 1987. 2. Since the previous report, Eritrea and South Sudan have acceded to, and Viet Nam has ratified, the Convention. The Committee calls upon all States that have not ratified the Convention to do so, and calls upon those that are already a party to accept all the procedures of the Convention, in order to enable the Committee to fulfil all aspects of its mandate. 3. All information on the status of the treaty, including declara tions under articles 20, 21 and 22 and reservations and objections made by States parties with respect to the Convention, can be found at http://treaties.un.org. B. Sessions and agendas of the Committee 4. The Committee has held two sessions since the adoption of its previous annual report. The fifty-third session (1250th to 1289th meetings) was held from 3 to 28 November 2014, and the fifty-fourth session (1290th to 1327th meetings) from 20 April to 15 May 2015. Sessions were held at the United Nation s Office at Geneva. 5. At its 1250th meeting, held on 3 November 2014, the Committee adopted the items listed in the provisional agenda submitted by the Secretary -General (CAT/C/53/1) as the agenda of its fifty-third session. 6. At its 1290th meeting, on 20 April 2015, the Committee adopted the items listed in the provisional agenda submitted by the Secretary-General (CAT/C/54/1) as the agenda of its fifty-fourth session. 7. An account of the deliberations of the Committee at those two sessions is contained in the relevant summary records (CAT/C/SR.1250-1327). C. Membership, officers and mandates 8. The membership of the Committee remained the same during the period covered by the report. The list of members, officers and mandates is contained in the annex. D. Participation of Committee members in other meetings 9. During the period under consideration, Committee members participated in various meetings: (a) A meeting of coordination with the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture, held on 1 October 2014 in Geneva, was attended by Alessio Bruni and Jens Modvig; 6/24 GE.15-13195