A/HRC/39/71 63. The Independent Expert calls on the Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement to respect the rights of the civilian population and to facilitate access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to people in need. G. South Sudanese refugees in the Sudan 64. The Independent Expert commends the Sudan for its long-standing tradition of hosting refugees. During the period under review, the Sudan continued to host refugees from Chad, Eritrea, the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen and other countries. Importantly, the Sudan is one of the major host countries for refugees fleeing the deadly conflict in South Sudan. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as of 31 May 2018, the Sudan had hosted some 763,144 South Sudanese refugees. 65. While noting the efforts undertaken by the humanitarian community to provide humanitarian assistance to South Sudanese refugees, the Independent Expert appealed to donor States to increase their support in order to address the needs of hundreds of thousands of refugees in the Sudan. V. Technical assistance and capacity-building 66. In his engagement with the Government of the Sudan and other stakeholders, the Independent Expert ascertained the roles of different bodies in the Sudan engaged in human rights promotion and protection in the country and received various requests for technical assistance. In his previous report (A/HRC/36/63), the Independent Expert undertook an assessment of technical assessment needs and identified some urgent areas for technical assistance to the Government. In his meetings with international partners, United Nations agencies, UNAMID and members of the diplomatic corps and Sudanese authorities, the Independent Expert was informed of various ongoing programmes to provide support and technical assistance to the Sudan in the field of human rights. 67. A notable example is the technical assistance provided by the United Nations Development Programme and the Government of Canada to the Sudan National Commission for Human Rights and the Advisory Council for Human Rights. In addition, the Government of Canada is providing funding for the joint rule of law and human rights programme in Darfur. This project aims to strengthen the capacity of the formal justice system (courts, judges, prosecutors, police and correction) in the Darfur region. The Independent Expert was also made aware of the financial and technical support provided to the National Council for Persons with Disabilities and the Secretary-General of the National Council for Child Welfare by the Government of Italy. 68. The Independent Expert was also made aware of technical projects developed by other United Nations entities, including the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Population Fund and UNAMID, to strengthen the capacity of national stakeholders in the field of human rights. 69. The Independent Expert is of the view that technical assistance and capacitybuilding needs in the field of human rights are broad and require high levels of funding, which must be sourced both internally from the Government itself and externally from different cooperating partners within the donor community and institutions. The Independent Expert would like to urge donor countries and the international community to provide the necessary technical and financial support to the Sudan in the field of human rights. 70. He also takes this opportunity to reiterate his call on the Government to facilitate the deployment to the Sudan of a technical mission from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in order to discuss and agree on technical assistance needs in a constructive manner. Such a deployment would be in compliance with Human Rights Council resolution 36/26, in which the Council requested OHCHR to provide technical assistance in response to the request from the Government of the Sudan to 11