FUNDS ADMINISTERED BY UN HUMAN RIGHTS Kosovo5, Liberia, Libya, Somalia and Sudan (Darfur)); and four country/stand-alone offices (in Bolivia, Mauritania, Mexico and the State of Palestine6). The forty-fourth session of the VFTC was held, in Geneva, in March. Subsequently, the forty-fifth session was held in the UN Human Rights Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, including a short visit to the Office in the occupied Palestinian territory by two Board members. Through these sessions, the Board Members observed the work of UN Human Rights field presences, evaluated their cooperation with partners on the ground and held discussions with staff members of UN Human Rights, in Geneva, on the status of implementation of technical cooperation programmes, funding trends, challenges and opportunities for the Fund. Through the Fund, UN Human Rights facilitates efforts at the country level to incorporate international human rights standards into national laws, policies and practices, including through follow-up to recommendations issued by the international human rights mechanisms and by supporting the establishment and strengthening of national structures, institutions and capacities to ensure adherence to these standards. Strengthening the administration of justice, including by supporting increased access to justice for individuals and groups facing discrimination and exclusion and increasing the capacities of beneficiaries to promote gender equality and women’s rights, featured prominently in numerous programmes receiving support from the Fund. It also continued to support activities dedicated to widening civic space, enhancing human rights education programmes and establishing responsive national human rights institutions that are operating in compliance with the Paris Principles. Additionally, the human rights capacity of United Nations resident coordinators and United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs) was strengthened through the deployment of human rights advisers and the delivery of specific projects supported by the Fund, including to advance the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2017, the total expenditure under the VFTC was US$12,362,447. This was substantially less than in previous years owing to the closing of a number of presences in the field. By 31 December 2017, the Fund had received a total of US$11,540,617, consisting of US$2,811,966 that was specifically earmarked for the Voluntary Fund, US$2,491,932 that was to be allocated to specific country projects on technical cooperation and US$6,236,719 in unearmarked funds. The Fund provided resources for technical cooperation programmes designed to build strong human rights frameworks at the national level in 28 regions, countries and territories through: 14 human rights advisers/human rights mainstreaming projects (in Chad, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, the Philippines, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Rwanda, Serbia, South Caucasus (Georgia), Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste); 10 human rights components of peace missions (in Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, 5 Reference to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo. 6 Reference to the State of Palestine should be understood in compliance with United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19. UN Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation (VFTC) Voluntary contributions in 2017 Donor US$ Earmarking Finland 910,125 VFTC Germany 601,441 VFTC India 100,000 VFTC Liechtenstein 39,722 VFTC South Africa 10,678 VFTC United States of America 1,150,000 VFTC (a) total contributions earmarked to VFTC 2,811,966 166,415 Australia France Chad 45,506 Mauritania 204,777 Mexico (empowering rights-holders and advocating for structural and legal reforms) 31,498 Sri Lanka (access to archives as truth-seeking measures to combat impunity and support reconciliation processes) 52,800 Mauritania 150,000 Mexico (promote a network of forensic science experts and facilitate Mexico’s adoption of policies to improve the justice system’s forensic sciences) Germany International Organization for Migration MacArthur Foundation 114 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2017 Activities in the Asia-Pacific region (allocated to Philippines) 22,753