A/HRC/10/45 page 5 18. A human rights national competitive examination was held in February 2008 and the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) focused on inviting participation in the examination from eligible countries in regions deemed to require improved representation in OHCHR. Of the 49 Member States invited to participate, 41 responded with applications and a total of 236 candidates sat the examination. A number of OHCHR staff members served on the board of examiners. The actual impact of this process on the geographic diversity of OHCHR will be only known once OHRM releases the list of successful candidates in early 2009. 19. OHCHR has also received support at the legislative level. In 2006, the General Assembly, on the basis of a report of the Third Committee, adopted resolution 61/159, in which it proposed a number of concrete measures to redress the geographical imbalance of the staff of OHCHR, including the establishment of a temporary mechanism whereby recruitment for extrabudgetary posts at the P-2 level would not be restricted to successful candidates from the national competitive examination. In its resolution 61/244, the General Assembly, on the basis of a report of the Fifth Committee on human resources management, subsequently made specific reference to OHCHR requesting the Secretary-General to present, in consultation with OHCHR, proposals to address the imbalance in the geographical distribution of the staff. Following extensive consultations between OHCHR and the Office of Human Resources Management, the Secretary-General submitted a report (A/61/823) to the Fifth Committee, in which several concrete measures were laid out, such as requesting an exemption from the national competitive recruitment examination process for posts at the P-2 and P-3 levels. Although the report was not taken up by the General Assembly at that time, OHCHR worked closely with OHRM to proceed with some of the recommendations coming from both the Third and Fifth Committees pending their review by the General Assembly. 20. The General Assembly (Fifth Committee) considered the above report, as well as a follow-up report (A/63/204) and related reports from the Joint Inspection Unit during its sixty-third session. In its resolution 63/250 on human resources management, the Assembly took note of report A/61/823 and the related changes to the staff rules that were proposed therein. 21. While seeking to further improve its geographical distribution, OHCHR will continue to pay special attention to the issue of gender balance, an area in which determination and concerted effort have already brought success, as demonstrated by the fact that as at 31 December 2008, women represented 50.5 per cent of regular OHCHR staff and 50.3 per cent of temporary OHCHR staff at the professional level, equivalent to an overall percentage of 50.4 per cent. 22. Similarly OHCHR will continue its commitment to meeting the goals and obligations placed upon it under the General Assembly mandated system of desirable ranges. In this regard, it is worth noting that during the current biennium OHCHR exceeded the departmental target relating to the recruitment of nationals from un- and underrepresented Member States established in the secretariat Human Resources Action Plan and the High Commissioner’s Compact with the Secretary-General.