A/HRC/35/17 Table 2 Expenditures for travel of government representatives to attend sessions of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review and plenary sessions of the Human Rights Council Year Amount paid (United States dollars) 2008 6 13 280.00 16 885.00 2009 17 33 846.00 23 568.00 2010 23 46 365.00 39 942.00 2011 21 81 778.00 11 698.00 2012 3 12 920.00 11 295.00 2013 6 35 176.00 35 176.00 2014 15 57 564.00 53 939.00 2015 23 18 268.00 95 512.00 2016 26 104 113.00 82 300.25 Total B. Amount authorized/pending Number of countries funded claim (United States dollars) 370 315.25 Training 13. The terms of reference of the Fund allow the financing of briefings prior to the sessions of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review to assist countries in the preparatory process. These briefings usually consist of plenary segments and breakout group discussions during which the policies, procedures and modalities of the universal periodic review are examined, information is exchanged and good practices and lessons learned are discussed concerning the organization of national consultations, the setting up of interministerial coordination mechanisms, the drafting of national reports and participation in the interactive dialogues held by the Working Group and the Human Rights Council in plenary session. 14. Increased efforts have been invested in keeping States engaged in cooperation with the universal periodic review mechanism. This relates in particular to small island developing States and least developed countries with no representation in Geneva. 15. In view of the fact that States scheduled for review in 2016 and covered by the targeted outreach involving bilateral briefings in New York and, whenever relevant, in Brussels, were briefed in 2015, no bilateral meetings were held in 2016. In addition, no regional briefings were organized at the end of the second cycle. 16. In the context of OHCHR and the Inter-Parliamentary Union partnership, a panel discussion was held during the thirty-second session of the Human Rights Council, in June 2016, to discuss how the role of parliamentarians in the work of the Council, in particular the universal periodic review, could be strengthened and how the work of the Council could be used by national parliaments to promote and protect human rights. The participation of one of the five panellists was funded by the Fund while the Inter-Parliamentary Union contributed through the participation of one expert. IV. Conclusions 17. During the reporting period, the Voluntary Trust Fund for Participation in the Universal Periodic Review continued to facilitate the participation of developing countries, in particular least developed countries, in the sessions of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review at which they were considered. Assistance was also provided to requesting States to enable them to participate in the adoption of their outcome document by the Human Rights Council during its plenary sessions. In that regard, the secretariat started following up with delegations through a more 4