A/HRC/4/91 page 8 1. The Americas and the Caribbean Network of National Human Rights Institutions of the Americas 21. OHCHR participated in the Fifth General Assembly of the Network of NHRIs of the Americas (Buenos Aires, 28 November 2006). During the meeting, its secretariat informed participants about the main activities undertaken during the period 2005-2006 and presented a work plan for 2007-2008. The plan contains five priority themes - right to education, rights of persons with disabilities, right to a healthy environment, rights of indigenous peoples and prevention of torture - which are to be supported by activities at the regional level. OHCHR, in collaboration with the Network and other United Nations funds and programmes, will support some of these activities. 22. Members of the Network are those institutions which are accredited by ICC as being in compliance with the Paris Principles. At present, the Network’s members include institutions from the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. 23. OHCHR has strengthened its collaboration with the Special Fund for Ombudsman and National Institutions of Latin America and the Caribbean. The Special Fund is a tool that connects resources and best practices in Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe. It is a flexible structure to help establish new NHRIs in the region and strengthen the capacities of existing ones. The Special Fund has provided support, including for the holding of the workshop on irregular migrants held in Mexico (9-11 March 2005), the Eighth International Conference of NHRIs and the Fifth General Assembly of the Network of the Americas, which included a seminar on economic, social and cultural rights. 24. At the international seminar “The right to education and NHRIs” held on 22 and 23 September 2005 in Honduras organized by the Network, OHCHR and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), participants identified the major obstacles and challenges to implementing the right to education in the region. They established a three-phase plan of action for NHRIs. The same partners organized a seminar in Ecuador (24-26 May 2006) as a second phase of the plan of action aimed at adopting concrete actions and strategies to promote and protect the right to education based on the “4-A scheme” (affordability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability) described by the previous Special Rapporteur on the right to education (see E/CN.4/2002/60, note 27). The third phase was the signing of the plan of action by the heads of NHRIs in the region at a ceremony held in Mexico City on 19 June 2006. The Network’s programme of work for the period 2007-2008 contains follow-up activities as reflected in the plan of action. OHCHR will continue to support these activities. Workshops, training courses and advisory missions 25. OHCHR supported the International Human Rights Training Programme, which was provided by the NGO EQUITAS in Montreal, Canada, from 11 to 30 June 2006, by sponsoring the participation of three NHRIs and one NGO. 26. As follow-up to the October 2005 OHCHR mission to support the establishment of an NHRI in Uruguay and responding to the requests of the Government, UNDP and civil society,