A/HRC/34/17 20. The Board also met with the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Nevena Vučković-Šahović. The two humanitarian funds are managed by a joint secretariat team at OHCHR. During the comprehensive exchange issues of common interest were discussed, in particular the challenges in implementing a sustainable victim-centred approach. The Trustees agreed to joint efforts to bring greater visibility to these unique victim-centred mandates. The Trustees also expressed appreciation for the managerial improvements put in place since the creation of a join secretariat team in 2012, while recommending that its staffing level be restored to the level of 2014 (before the staffing cuts introduced by OHCHR to face its budget shortfall in 2014). 21. In line with its objective to make the Fund a platform for knowledge-sharing and expertise in the field of rehabilitation and redress for victims, the Board recommended that the secretariat organize a thematic workshop on torture and migration at its forty-fifth session, to be held in April 2017, to which selected experts and practitioners would be invited to present their research and experience. The findings of the last expert workshop, on redress and rehabilitation of child and adolescent victims of torture and the intergenerational transmission of trauma, are contained in document A/71/289. V. Making a contribution 22. Governments, non-governmental organizations and other public and private entities are encouraged to contribute to the Fund. It is important to note that only specifically earmarked contributions are attributed to the Fund. For more information on how to contribute and details about the Fund, donors are requested to contact the secretariat of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland; e-mail: unvfvt@ohchr.org; telephone: +41 22 917 9376; fax: +41 22 917 9017. VI. Conclusions and recommendations 23. The contexts and crises in which torture takes place have become more complex in recent years, resulting in an increasing number of victims, including children and adolescents. The need for redress and rehabilitation has become more pressing than ever. 24. The Board is concerned at the rampant use of torture, as well as at a growing and shocking narrative favouring, condoning, and even inciting the use of torture. The Board is also preoccupied at situations of reprisals against a number of the Fund’s grantees. The Board continues to pursue close coordination with the other United Nations mechanisms against torture, firmly convinced that a strengthened United Nations anti-torture front is necessary to work effectively towards the full eradication of torture. 25. As the Secretary-General recalled in his statement of 26 June 2016 on the occasion of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture is often a lifeline and a last resort when States neglect their obligation to prevent torture and fail to provide victims with effective and prompt redress, including appropriate forms of rehabilitation. 26. Notwithstanding a slight decrease in the income of the Fund secured for 2017, the Board has recommended the funding of more than 170 projects in 75 countries across the world in 2017. It has also set aside funding for emergency applications, to 6

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