A/HRC/40/21 IV. Forty-eighth session of the Board of Trustees 10. The forty-eighth session of the Board of Trustees was held in Geneva from 1 to 5 October 2018. The Board examined proposals for funding and made recommendations on grants to be awarded to beneficiary organizations for activities to be implemented in the period from 1 January to 31 December 2019. 11. The amount available for distribution to projects was calculated after deducting programme support costs, the operating cash reserve and expected expenditures for nongrant activities. 12. At the forty-eighth session, the Board reviewed a total of 213 admissible project proposals received under the call for applications for 2019, aimed at providing direct assistance to victims of torture and their families, as well as — to a lesser extent — training and capacity-building in the field of rehabilitation. Applications amounted to a total of $13,441,350. 13. In line with the grant-making procedure set out at its forty-fifth session (A/72/278, paras. 5–8), the Board recommended that $7,231,000 be promptly awarded for a total of 160 projects, to be implemented in 2019 in 77 countries for an average grant size of $45,200. Of those projects, 155 are for the delivery of direct assistance services to victims of torture and 5 are for strengthening the capacity of the beneficiary organizations to deliver such services (i.e. training and capacity-building projects). With the vital financial assistance of the Fund, it is expected that nearly 50,000 victims and their families worldwide will have access to rehabilitation and other forms of concrete assistance in the course of 2019. 14. Admissible project proposals were reviewed by the Board on a competitive basis, taking into account the merits and documented needs of each proposal and its complementarity with other initiatives, as well as the number of years of continuous support by the Fund to the same project. 15. The Board also recommended setting aside an additional $309,000 to respond to emergency assistance requests that may be received in the course of 2019 through the intersessional procedure of the Fund. The Board also agreed that the additional income to be received by the Fund before 31 December 2018 would be added to the emergency budget line. 16. The Board noted with satisfaction that through its enhanced emergency procedure, in 2018 the Fund was able to provide financial support in the amount of $450,375 for the immediate and urgent relief of victims of torture. Grants under the emergency procedure were awarded to support vital rehabilitation services through a special call, to Rohingya victims forced to flee from Myanmar to Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh. 17. During its forty-eighth session, the Board met with the newly appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights to discuss her involvement in the forthcoming activities and events supported by the Fund, as well as strategies to raise the visibility of the Fund and the role it plays in support of victims and civil society actors. 18. The Board also met with the secretaries of the Committee against Torture and the Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture to coordinate the work of the United Nations in combating the use of torture. It also held an exchange of views with the core group of the Convention against Torture Initiative to explore ways of promoting greater implementation of article 14 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on the right to rehabilitation and redress. The Board also discussed with the Victims’ Rights Advocate concrete ways to advance the victim-centred agenda of the United Nations. 19. The Permanent Mission of Denmark convened a working-level meeting during the session to finalize the establishment and launch of a Group of friends of the Fund, a Statedriven initiative to lend support to the Fund and the cause it stands for. 20. In line with its objective to make the Fund a platform for knowledge-sharing in the field of rehabilitation and redress for victims, the Board also agreed to organize an expert 5