CAT/C/54/2 Rights (OHCHR) Regional Office for Europe, the United Nations Development Programme in Turkey and various permanent missions. Within the framework of the joint project of OHCHR, the Subcommittee and the International Organization of la Francophonie (OIF), an event took place in Paris on 23 and 24 June 2014 with the aim of exploring issues at stake, challenges and perspectives of the NPMs in French-speaking African countries (see sect. III.A.2 below). In that context, the Subcommittee provided conceptual and practical guidance to the States parties in the region with regard to the effective implementation of the Optional Protocol provisions concerning NPMs. The event also provided an opportunity for the Subcommittee to build partnerships with OIF and a number of States parties in the African region, in the spirit of cooperation envisaged by the Optional Protocol. 28. The Subcommittee has established and maintained contact with NPMs themselves, in fulfilment of its mandate under article 11 (b) (ii) of the Optional Protocol. At its twentythird session, the Subcommittee held for the first time two videoconferences via Skype with the NPMs of Bulgaria and Cyprus, the latter in the presence of representatives from the Permanent Mission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus. In addition, the Regional Team met with the NPM of Norway. The Subcommittee has continued to provide analysis and feedback to the NPMs on their annual reports. In that connection, it was pleased to have received the annual reports of 20 NPMs during 2014. They have been posted on the Subcommittee website. 29. 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 NPMs in particular and on the Optional Protocol in general. Those events have been posted on the Subcommittee website. 30. The Subcommittee would like to take this opportunity to express its gratitude to the organizers of those and all other events to which the Subcommittee 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. F. Special Fund under article 26 of the Optional Protocol 31. The purpose of the Special Fund established under article 26, paragraph 1, of the Optional Protocol is to help finance the implementation of Subcommittee recommendations made following a visit to a State party, and education programmes of NPMs. The Subcommittee wishes to express its gratitude to contributors for their generosity. 4 It is, however, aware that further contributions are urgently needed in order to sustain and consolidate the Special Fund and its work. 32. The Subcommittee firmly 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 which 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, and calls upon States to continue to support the Fund financially. The Subcommittee believes that the work and visibility of the Fund would be enhanced were its administrative basis to be reviewed and a discrete Board of Trustees established to oversee 4 The Special Fund receives voluntary contributions from Governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations and other private and public entities. 7