A/HRC/29/48 across regions and within various parts of the United Nations system in supporting building solid programmes and partnerships on the ground. 27. As demonstrated throughout the recent visits and the discussions held with all partners on the ground, direct exposure to the situation on the ground is particularly helpful for the Board when identifying and proposing advice on ways to continue to strengthen the technical cooperation of the Office. The availability of the Office and opportunities it has to be present in places where action is needed and to use all possible tools within the full scope of the mandate of the High Commissioner is critical for the implementation of effective technical cooperation. During the Board’s visits to Africa, the Americas and Asia, as in its latest thematic reports to the Human Rights Council on technical cooperation and national policies and inclusive and participatory development,2 and in the annual reports of the Office, numerous good practices yielding key measurable results have been identified and documented. These are experiences that could be replicated or emulated in other parts of the world. 28. The Board took the opportunity of part of its last day in Bangkok to hold an internal meeting to continue discussions on its future programme. During the meeting, the Board formally welcomed the two newly appointed members, Esi Sutherland-Addy and Valeriu Nicolae. Lin Lim was elected chairperson of the Board to succeed Ms. Acosta from 1 July 2015. The Board also proposed to explore the possibility of focusing the next field session in 2016 on the Europe and Central Asia Region and combining it with the shortened, postponed annual session in Geneva. III. Technical cooperation A. Technical cooperation, the broadest possible participation of all elements of national societies and its complementarity to efforts of regional and subregional human rights mechanisms 29. The Board has brought to the attention of the Human Rights Council a number of components for effective technical cooperation by OHCHR that have become evident in its experience of overseeing the management of the Voluntary Fund. The Board, through its reports and presentations to the Council, has already elaborated on (a) the importance of anchoring technical cooperation to the universality and indivisibility of all human rights, including its protection and promotion aspects; (b) the critical importance of building and strengthening national frameworks and institutions in the field of human rights through technical cooperation and advisory services with the support of OHCHR; and (c) the importance of partnerships with United Nations entities on the ground. 30. As part of its programme of work for the coming years, the Board would like to continue to elaborate on the main elements of the above-mentioned components, as it considers that this could be beneficial for supporting the Office in the implementation of the technical cooperation aspects of its programme for 2014-2017 and subsequent ones. In the present report, the Board elaborates on its view that, for technical cooperation programmes to be successful and effective, they should ensure the broadest possible participation of all elements of national societies and be complementary to efforts of regional and subregional human rights mechanisms, one of the mentioned components. 2 A/HRC/27/41 and A/HRC/28/42. 9