A/HRC/43/31 – the United Nations and its agencies – considered that it is among their duties and functions to provide or at least advise on technical instruction and training, and to send expert missions. 11. It was against this background that the Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 222 (IX), requested the General Assembly and all specialized agencies to work out an expanded programme of technical assistance for the economic development of underdeveloped countries. 12. On 16 November 1949, the General Assembly, adopted two important resolutions concerning technical assistance: resolution 304 (IV), on the expanded programme of technical assistance for technical development of underdeveloped countries, and resolution 305 (IV), on technical assistance for economic development under General Assembly resolution 200 (III). 13. In 1949, with the creation of the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance, the General Assembly also created a mechanism for the participation of specialized agencies: the Technical Assistance Board. The Board comprised the executive heads (or their representatives) of the United Nations and its specialized agencies and was the forum in which technical assistance requests were discussed, progress reports were given and agency programmes presented. The Board then made recommendations on the total programme to the Technical Assistance Committee of the Economic and Social Council. The Committee would approve the overall programme, after which the projects would be initiated when multilateral or bilateral instruments were signed. 14. After the creation of the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance, less developed countries requested the Secretary General for, economic advisers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) was asked to advise on cooperation and social insurance, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on agriculture, fisheries and forestry. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was asked to advise on education and eradication of illiteracy, while the World Health Organization (WHO) was asked to advise on health and combating malaria and several other diseases. 15. The results of the programme were mixed, its main weakness being its financial limitations, given that the demand for technical assistance was greater than the resources afforded by the United Nations system. 16. On the other hand, it appeared that voluntarily funded United Nations programmes of technical assistance could be efficient in the development of solutions to economic, social and cultural problems. One example was the creation in 1946 of the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) (later renamed the United Nations Children’s Fund). UNICEF is funded entirely by voluntary contributions and, thanks to its partnership with Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, has been able to provide assistance to millions of children and young people all over the world in such fields as the provision of vaccines, educational material and safe drinking water, the reduction of malaria-related deaths, assistance in humanitarian emergencies, the treatment of severe malnutrition and child development through sport. 17. Another example is the Programme of Advisory Services and Technical Assistance in the Field of Human Rights, which was established since 1955 and is currently managed by OHCHR. It is funded from the regular budget of the United Nations and, since 1987, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights (see also paras. 77–98 below). 18. More recently, in 2009, the Human Rights Council in its resolution 6/17, established the voluntary fund for financial and technical assistance to help States in the implementation of recommendations made in the context of the universal periodic review, in consultation with and with the consent of the State concerned. 19. It is important to recall that the United Nations sees technical cooperation activities as a complement to, but never a substitute for, the monitoring and investigating activities of the human rights programme. 4