A/HRC/15/38 indigenous activists to attend sessions on the draft declaration and to contribute to this important standard-setting exercise, culminating in the approval of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly through resolution 61/295 of 13 September 2007. 6. The Fund’s mandate was further extended following the creation by the Commission on Human Rights (resolution 1998/20 of 9 April 1998, endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in its decision 1998/247 of 30 July 1998) of an open-ended intersessional ad hoc working group to elaborate and consider further proposals for the possible establishment of a permanent forum for indigenous people in the United Nations system. The General Assembly decided in its resolution 53/130 of 9 December 1998 that the Fund should also assist indigenous representatives to attend the deliberations of the said ad hoc working group, and the Fund subsequently allocated approximately 50 grants to indigenous representatives to attend meetings of this body. 7. The Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 2000/22 of 28 July 2000, established the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues as subsidiary organ of the Council. As a response to this development, the General Assembly decided, by resolution 56/140 of 19 December 2001, that the Fund should also be used to assist representatives of indigenous communities and organizations in attending, as observers, the sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. 8. Finally, in its resolution 63/161 of 18 December 2008, the General Assembly adjusted the mandate of the Fund so as to facilitate the participation of representatives of indigenous peoples’ organizations in the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, established as a subsidiary organ of the Human Rights Council in accordance with its resolution 6/36 of 14 December 2007. 9. Given that the mandate of the Fund has been amended five times, its Board and its secretariat in OHCHR have had to continuously adapt working methods and procedures in order to respond effectively to these changes. III. Administration of the Fund, mandate and composition of the Board of Trustees 10. The Fund is administered by the Secretary-General in accordance with the Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations on general trust funds for humanitarian assistance, by means of OHCHR with the advice of the Board. 11. The Fund reports on its activities to the General Assembly through an annual report of the Secretary-General. There is also a standard practice by which a representative of the Board addresses each plenary session of the Permanent Forum and the Expert Mechanism to provide information on the work of the Fund under the relevant agenda item. 12. The Fund’s Board composed of five persons with relevant experience on issues affecting indigenous peoples, who serve in their personal capacity as United Nations experts. The Board members are appointed by the Secretary-General for a three-year renewable term. At least one member shall be a representative of a widely recognized organization of indigenous peoples. In practice, indigenous persons have been regularly appointed as members of the Board. The current Board members appointed by the Secretary-General in 2009 are Kenneth Deer (Canada), Melakou Tegegn (Ethiopia), Shankar Limbu (Nepal), Tarcila Rivera Zea (Peru) and Dalee Sambo Dorough (United States of America). 13. The composition of the Board has been drawn upon when establishing various other funds and boards within and outside the United Nations system, such as the voluntary fund 4