A/HRC/43/68 community with advocacy and the referral of cases, which were fully in line with the expectations from partners on the ground. 31. The partners with whom the Board met all corroborated that the support from OHCHR had been and continues to be of great importance. Partners rely greatly on the expertise of and advice from OHCHR when strengthening national protection systems. Particularly appreciated in the current phase of the United Nations development system reform is the efficient strategy of the Office to enhance the capacities of the United Nations country teams in the region to better support national efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights. In Mozambique, both national and United Nations partners highlighted the technical expertise and relevance of the technical cooperation support provided by the Office to support the analysis of human rights challenges, including in the context of the violence experienced in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, as well as to identify the groups at risk of being left behind not just in situations of emergency, but also in a broader development context, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The Board considers that that experience should provide the grounds to ensure a more permanent basis for the Office’s engagement in Mozambique in order to ensure that the team on the ground has the opportunity to deliver on the expectations and engagement required and that the results can be sustained. 32. In Mozambique, the Board also observed in situ the integration and complementarities of the various funding tools of OHCHR. The support that is being provided to the Ministry of Justice through the universal periodic review voluntary trust fund supervised by the experts at the Regional Office is a good example that should be further supported by the trust fund. Support for the implementation of complex recommendations, such as those arising in the context of the universal periodic review, requires short-term and long-term coordinated strategies and multidisciplinary interventions. 33. In Johannesburg, South Africa, the Board visited the Bienvenu Shelter, a project supported by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and observed how the Office directly assisted victims. The Board met with refugee women and children escaping violence and was very pleased to observe how the full toolbox of OHCHR was used to support efforts on the ground that had an impact on the daily lives and situations of those women and children. 34. The Office in the region also provides direction on the human rights dimensions in numerous thematic areas, such as economic, social and cultural rights and, in particular, the protection of women’s rights, including the challenges surrounding violence against women. Strengthening the capacities of the regional offices to provide enhanced thematic expertise to ensure technical support to States on actions regarding the promotion and protection of human rights, in particular of groups identified as target populations and those left behind, is needed. The Board was very pleased to note that women’s rights and gender inclusiveness were fully integrated into all the regional programmes, despite the limited staff capacity on the ground. The thematic technical expertise and policy advice from the Women’s Human Rights and Gender Section at headquarters and the strategy of OHCHR to ensure enhanced capacity with regard to women’s rights and gender equality in all its regional presences were welcomed by the Board. It has observed how, in a complementary way, the Office maximized the use of the scarce available resources around a key priority issue. At its sessions in regions where the strengthening of that capacity has materialized, the Board has observed tangible impacts and results, such as those achieved in Central and South America by the regional offices, and is of the view that those efforts could serve to inspire their replication in other regions. For that reason, the Board would like to encourage States to continue supporting that initiative, in particular through stronger financial support to the Regional Office for Southern Africa, especially in the light of the serious inequality and discrimination faced by populations in a number of countries in the region, as a means to accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the current decade of action and to implement the United Nations development reform agenda. 35. The Board was particularly impressed with the results of the Office’s investment in building capacity and sustainability in the Regional Office for Southern Africa. Civil society organizations stressed to the Board how the reformed structure of the Office was 8