A/HRC/23/27 3. Asia and the Pacific 41. During the period under review, OHCHR regional offices for South-East Asia and the Pacific, the OHCHR office in Cambodia, the human rights advisers to the United Nations country teams in Maldives, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka, and the human rights components of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste continued to provide advice and assistance, in partnership with the National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section for the establishment or strengthening of national human rights institutions. 42. In 2012, OHCHR deployed a human rights adviser to support the work of the United Nations country team in Maldives in strengthening the capacity of the Human Rights Commission. It provided technical support to the Commission in developing a methodology for monitoring demonstrations and in the elaboration of a plan for conducting investigations. 43. During the period under review, OHCHR, in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, supported the efforts of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission to develop an enabling law through consultations with the Commission and the Government of Myanmar. 44. OHCHR, UNDP and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions facilitated capacity assessments of the national human rights institutions of Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The assessments were used to propose strategies to strengthen the institutional and human resource capacities of human rights institutions and to make their internal processes more efficient and effective. 45. In November 2012, the regional office for South-East Asia organized a subregional dialogue on gender equality and women’s rights between national human rights institutions in the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and in TimorLeste, with the participation of national specialized institutions on women, government representatives, the ASEAN Independent Human Rights Commission and the ASEAN Commission on Women and Children. 4. Europe and Central Asia 46. During the period under review, the OHCHR regional offices for Europe and for Central Asia, the OHCHR office in Kosovo, human rights advisers in Albania, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Tajikistan and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the human rights adviser of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia in Turkmenistan continued to provide advice and assistance, in partnership with the National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section, for the establishment and strengthening of human rights institutions in Europe and Central Asia. 47. OHCHR provided legal advice to the former national human rights institution and the Government of the Netherlands. As a result, a law was enacted establishing a new national institution with a broader mandate. 48. On the request of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence of Ireland, OHCHR provided legal advice on issues of compliance with the Paris Principles stemming from the merger of the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Body of Ireland. 49. In May 2012, OHCHR conducted a workshop for federal and subnational Ombudsmen in the Russian Federation on strengthening their interaction with United Nations human rights mechanisms. As a result, a joint plan of activities was adopted, aimed at increasing awareness and strengthening the capacity of subnational Ombudsman 8