A/HRC/16/66 A. Africa region 16. The Board was updated on the situation of field presences in the Africa region, learning about the country situations, the projects and activities as well as strategies, partners, budget constraints and regional priorities within the context of technical cooperation. It was briefed on the work of human rights components of United Nations peace missions in Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Sudan and Somalia; on the situation of human rights advisers in the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (Burundi), Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Rwanda; and on the situation of country offices in Guinea and Togo. 17. It was informed that, although the Strategic Management Plan is the primary guide in determining the issues on which OHCHR focuses, the Office needs to keep focus and strike a balance to respond to emerging issues and to intervene where maximum impact can be made, as for example in its positive engagement in the context of elections in Togo as well as the establishment of an office in Guinea and a human rights adviser in Kenya in collaboration with United Nations agencies and national partners. 18. In the Africa region, work continued in all the six thematic areas where all human rights challenges presented themselves as priorities, specifically on countering discrimination in the framework of the Durban Declaration by addressing ethnic regional and class discrimination; and addressing economic, social and cultural rights, a critical and challenging task, especially with regard to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs). The Board took note of the successful cooperation with partners and was heartened to note that the Office had continued its work in strengthening regional and subregional human rights mechanisms such as the African Union, Southern African Development Community, Economic Community of West African States, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. 19. The Board was informed of the mid-year review progress and new developments in the field presences in Africa even when faced with limited financial and human resources as well as the large presence of human rights components in peacekeeping missions. The Board enquired into the actual application of the Strategic Management Plan in the field work and was pleased to note that a bottom-up approach had been adopted in its development. The Office acknowledged the need to be strategic and forward-looking to ensure results, impact and achievement of expected accomplishments. 20. The Board was also provided with an update on the work in the Southern Africa Regional Office and the work on strengthening engagement with treaty bodies and the universal periodic review (UPR). It encouraged more efforts towards cooperation with the United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs) in the areas of collaboration that had been identified and was pleased to note interest from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, including progress in the establishment and strengthening of their national human rights institutions (NHRIs). It was noted that technical cooperation projects in South Africa could serve as learning platforms for other countries in the region. The recruitment of a human rights adviser was ongoing in Madagascar. 21. In Somalia the framework for technical cooperation, endorsed by the Transitional Federal Government in 2009, contained the following main areas of intervention: strengthening the human rights capacity of the authorities, strengthening monitoring, reporting and advocacy, contributing to addressing impunity, contributing to the creation of human rights-compliant security forces, and increasing public awareness of human rights. Its implementation, regrettably, had been impacted by significant challenges and constraints. The Board was updated on the advisory services provided by OHCHR to the Independent Federal Constitution Committee, OHCHR's advocacy in favour of signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, its work on mainstreaming human rights in the work 6