A/HRC/29/22 I. Introduction A. Submission of the report 1. The present report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council decision 17/119, in which the secretariat was requested to provide an annual written update on the operations of the Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance in the Implementation of the Universal Periodic Review (hereinafter, “the Voluntary Fund”) and on the resources available to it. The report has been prepared by the secretariat in consultation with the Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Fund and has been approved by the Board. The present report provides an overview of contributions and expenditure as at 31 December 2014, together with a description of action taken since the submission of the previous report (A/HRC/26/54) to operationalize the Voluntary Fund. It also provides a description of the activities to be funded by the Voluntary Fund during the course of 2015. B. Background 2. In its resolution 6/17, the Human Rights Council requested the Secretary-General to establish a new financial mechanism called the Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance in order to provide, in conjunction with multilateral funding mechanisms, a source of financial and technical assistance to help countries implement recommendations emanating from the universal periodic review in consultation with, and with the consent of, the country concerned. In its resolution 16/21, the Human Rights Council requested that the Voluntary Fund be strengthened and operationalized in order to provide a source of financial and technical assistance to help countries, in particular least developed countries and small island developing States, to implement the recommendations emanating from their review. The Human Rights Council also requested that a board of trustees be established in accordance with the rules of the United Nations. 3. The Voluntary Fund was established in 2009. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has begun operationalizing the Fund by providing financial and technical assistance to States which have requested support. Support has been provided in the spirit of the universal periodic review, in the founding resolution for which it is provided that the objectives are the improvement of the human rights situation on the ground (Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, annex, para. 4 (a)), the fulfilment of the State’s human rights obligations and commitments (ibid., para. 4 (b)) and the enhancement of the State’s capacity and of technical assistance, in consultation with, and with the consent of, the State concerned (ibid., para. 4 (c)). II. Operationalization of the Fund A. Board of Trustees of the Fund 4. On 30 May 2013, the Secretary-General appointed the members of the Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation to serve also as the Board of Trustees for the Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance in the Implementation of the Universal Periodic Review. They are tasked with overseeing the management of the latter Fund. 3