A/HRC/7/57 page 6 Table 2 Africa Asia Latin America and Caribbean Eastern Europe Western Europe and Other OHCHR All 31 December 2007 No. Per cent 55 13.1 53 12.6 50 11.9 20 4.8 241 57.5 419 100 Midpoint Secretariat 31 July 2007 Per cent 12 27.86 9.68 6.54 43.72 100 Actual Secretariat 31 July 2007 Per cent 13.2 19 11.2 9.3 47.4 100 20. The Office will continue to vigorously implement the High Commissioner’s procedures and framework for improving geographic diversity (A/HRC/4/93), which have, to date, proven extremely effective. It is anticipated that the current positive geographic trends will continue throughout the current biennium; for its part, the Office will endeavour to maximize the opportunity afforded by its continued growth to further increase geographic diversity. 21. The Office is confident that a number of other initiatives will further enhance its geographic diversity. 22. A human rights national competitive examination will be held in 2008. The Office of Human Resources Management has focused on inviting participation in the examination from eligible countries in regions deemed requiring improved representation in OHCHR. This is a unique opportunity to improve the long-term geographic balance of the Office and it is hoped that those Member States invited to participate do so. 23. The Office has also received support at the legislative level. In 2006, the General Assembly, on the basis of a report of the Third Committee, adopted resolution 61/159, in which it proposed a number of concrete measures to redress the geographical imbalance of the staff of OHCHR, including the establishment of a temporary mechanism whereby recruitment for extrabudgetary posts at the P-2 level would not be restricted to successful candidates from the national competitive examination; and encouraged participation from a broader range of Member States in the associate experts programme and the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Joint Inspection Unit (A/61/115). The Assembly reaffirmed that the Fifth Committee was the appropriate Committee to look into such administrative matters. In its resolution 61/244, the Assembly, on the basis of a report of the Fifth Committee on human resources management, subsequently made specific reference to OHCHR. The Assembly requested that the Secretary-General present, in consultation with OHCHR, proposals to address the imbalance in the geographical distribution of the staff in that Office. Following extensive consultations between OHCHR and the Office of Human Resources Management, the Secretary-General submitted a report (A/61/823) to the Fifth Committee, in which several concrete measures were laid out, such as requesting an exemption from the national competitive recruitment examination process for posts at the P-2 and P-3 levels, and a commitment to more selectively targeting countries for inclusion in the examinations scheduled for 2008.