A/HRC/29/48 Nations Development Assistance Frameworks. When the outcome of these mechanisms were fully integrated into the early stages of programming, planning and assessment processes, there were greater opportunities to develop sound programmes to support States’ efforts to address critical human rights issues and to develop solid partnerships with relevant national institutions. In this context, discussions with human rights advisers deployed in the region were particularly enlightening with regard to opportunities and areas requiring improvement, in particular their capacity to provide technical cooperation and advisory services in collaboration with other United Nations agencies. 23. The Board took the opportunity of its visit to Bangkok to discuss (via teleconferencing) with the chairpersons of the national human rights commissions of Malaysia and the Philippines the Office’s support for the establishment and strengthening of national protection systems, of which national human rights institutions that comply with the Paris Principles were a key pillar. The Board also discussed developments regarding the Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The Board reiterated its view that technical cooperation in the field of human rights should give high priority to the development and strengthening of national human rights systems and institutions. It was pleased to learn that 6 of the 11 States in South-East Asia had national human rights institutions, and that five of those six had “A” status. It noted the strong support given to national human rights institutions by the regional office and its close collaboration with them. It encouraged the regional office and other OHCHR field presences in the region to continue this support and collaboration. 24. The Board found that OHCHR priorities in Cambodia during the programming cycle for the period 2014-2017were in line with the expectations of national stakeholders, and that the Office continued to be seen, more than 20 years since its establishment, as a reliable partner with the capacity to respond adequately to new challenges, for example, in the area of access to land and housing. The Board considers that the Office would benefit from strengthening its efforts and capacity together with relevant State institutions to continue to provide support to turn into concrete capacity-building actions the specific needs for protection of civil society space and the work of human rights defenders and organizations that have played a critical role in supporting the advances made in the country. This is particularly relevant in preparations for the next electoral period, during which the Office could provide valuable advice within the framework of its thematic strategy on widening democratic space. 25. The Board is of the view that the programme of the Regional Office for South-East Asia is also in line with the expectations of main partners with whom the Board met, including State officials and representatives of regional institutions and national human rights mechanisms, civil society and United Nations partners. The Board encourages the Office to continue to invest in strengthening the methodologies in place for thematic research, and to improve mechanisms for data collection and data analysis and the collection of lessons learned and good practices. The Board is particularly pleased with the recent strengthening of the capacities of the Regional Office to respond to humanitarian emergencies and to enlarge its thematic expertise, for example in the area of land-related issues. The Board encourages OHCHR to continue to deploy thematic expertise to its regional presences in order to make such expertise more readily available at the regional and country levels. 26. The Board was most impressed again with the dedication and commitment of so many of the OHCHR and other United Nations staff member that it met during its visits. These officials work often in difficult and challenging contexts. They are often confronted with situations where they are required to work in isolation from other colleagues and, in many cases, from their families. Throughout its visits, the Board observed the incredible added value of staff members who had experience from the different parts of the Office, 8