A/HRC/22/19 I. Introduction A. Submission of the report 1. The present note was prepared in accordance with the arrangements approved by the Human Rights Council in its decision 2/102. It presents updated information on the activities of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and in particular the recommendations adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Fund at its thirty-fifth session, held from 25 January to 3 February 2012, and at its thirty-sixth session, held in Geneva from 15 to 19 October 2012. 2. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights approved the recommendations on behalf of the Secretary-General. The present note complements the report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Fund, submitted to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session detailing the outcomes of the thirty-fifth session of the Board of Trustees (A/67/264, paras. 13-19). 3. Pursuant to the recommendations made by the Office of Internal Oversight Services in its report on the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery of 2007 (AUD/01835/07), the secretariats of both Funds were placed, on 1 of January 2012, within the purview of the Human Rights Treaties Division of the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR). Furthermore, the post of Secretary was established for both Funds. A new post of Fundraiser dedicated to humanitarian funds was also created within the Human Rights Treaties Division and placed in the Donors and External Relations Section. B. Mandate of the Fund 4. The Fund receives voluntary contributions from Governments, non-governmental organizations and individuals. In accordance with the mandate of the Fund, outlined in General Assembly resolution 36/151 and the practices established by the Board of Trustees in 1982, the Fund provides grants to established channels of assistance, including nongovernmental organizations, associations of victims and family members of victims, private and public hospitals, legal clinics, public interest law firms and individual lawyers that submit projects involving medical, psychological, social, financial, legal and humanitarian or other forms of assistance to victims of torture and members of their families. C. Board of Trustees 5. The Secretary-General administers the Fund through OHCHR with the advice of the Board of Trustees, composed of five members acting in a personal capacity and appointed by the Secretary-General with due regard to equitable geographical distribution and in consultation with their Governments. On 26 October 2011, the Secretary-General reappointed Mercedes Doretti (Argentina) for a final period of three years, and appointed Natasa Kandic (Serbia), Maria Cristina de Mendonca (Portugal), Morad el-Shazly (Egypt) and Anastasia Pinto (India) for a three-year term, renewable once. D. Admissibility criteria 6. Project admissibility criteria are outlined in the Fund’s guidelines. They require a project to be presented by an established channel of assistance, including non-governmental 2