A/HRC/24/26 B. Capacity-building 12. During the reporting period, the Office contributed to developing the knowledge and capacity of 23 indigenous representatives from Bolivia, Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mali, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Uganda and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) through its extensive annual human rights training programme – the “Indigenous Fellowship Programme” – which took place in Geneva in June-July 2012. Trained beneficiaries learned in theory and practice how to make use of human rights instruments and mechanisms to promote and protect the rights of their indigenous communities at the international level. In their final evaluations the fellows also stated how much they valued the insightful contributions by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), ILO, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and UNICEF, as well as by Geneva-based human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Centre for Civil and Political Rights, the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Universal Periodic Review (UPR) information, the Indigenous Peoples’ Center for Documentation, Research and Information (doCip), and Mandat International. Furthermore, the Office in Geneva welcomed a “Senior” Indigenous Fellow from Canada who undertook a four-month on-the-job training course through which he contributed to the activities of the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section. 13. Additionally, two indigenous fellows who had already been trained in Geneva were given the opportunity to further their knowledge by undertaking national fellowships in OHCHR field presences in the Russian Federation and Guatemala. Their active involvement and inputs to the activities of the Office in these two countries were very much appreciated and their knowledge of indigenous issues was an asset in supporting the Office’s programmes on indigenous issues. 14. The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations – managed by OHCHR on the basis of advice from a Board of Trustees – continued to support the participation of indigenous organizations in the sessions of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Human Rights Council, including its Universal Periodic Review mechanism, and the treaty bodies. In September 2012, the General Assembly adopted resolution 66/296, expanding the mandate of the Fund to include support for indigenous peoples to participate in the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, as well as in the preparatory process for the conference. 15. In 2012, 54 travel grants were awarded for representatives of indigenous communities and organizations to participate in the sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the sessions of the Human Rights Council and its UPR process, and in sessions of the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Committee against Torture. 16. The Fund also organized and funded six human rights training modules in four languages, in Geneva and New York, to increase the capacity of grantees and other indigenous representatives to effectively participate in human rights mechanisms. Additionally, follow-up mechanisms were strengthened to ensure that the participation of indigenous representatives contributes to the implementation of recommendations issued by human rights mechanisms and the national-level implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 17. At its twenty-sixth session in February 2013, the Board of Trustees selected 27 representatives of indigenous communities and organizations to attend the twelfth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May 2013, 20 indigenous representatives to attend the sixth session of the Expert Mechanism, 3 indigenous representatives to attend the 5