A/HRC/40/3 delegates, including those from six small island developing States without permanent representation in Geneva, to attend Council sessions. OHCHR supported a workshop for the Caribbean region, at which the Georgetown Declaration Towards 2022 was adopted, which seeks to facilitate the engagement of the least developed countries and small island developing States with the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms. 3. Universal periodic review 10. With the support of OHCHR, the universal periodic review continued to see 100 per cent participation by States under review during the ongoing third cycle. The Voluntary Trust Fund for participation in the universal periodic review, administered by OHCHR, benefited 22 of the 42 Member States reviewed during the reporting period. To facilitate follow-up to recommendations, upon completion of reviews the High Commissioner continued to address letters to Ministers of Foreign Affairs offering support. 4. Special procedures 11. OHCHR continued to support the work of 44 thematic and 12 country-specific special procedures mandates. It also assisted the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures and ensured the increased visibility and efficiency of the overall system. The report on the annual meeting of the special procedures contains an overview of the activities of mandate holders in 2018 (A/HRC/40/38 and Add.1). 5. Follow-up to the work of human rights mechanisms 12. OHCHR intensified its support for the comprehensive implementation of recommendations issued by United Nations human rights mechanisms, which provide opportunities for United Nations system-wide engagement at the national level. 13. Through the Voluntary Fund for financial and technical assistance for the implementation of the universal periodic review that it administers, OHCHR continued to respond to requests for assistance from Member States. In 2018, it initiated regional workshops involving a wide range of actors to share good practices on the universal periodic review, including on follow-up to recommendations. 14. OHCHR presences throughout the world continued to support Governments and other actors in submitting reports for the universal period review. They assisted States in establishing or strengthening national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up, and in developing tools to track the implementation of recommendations, sometimes in combination with the Sustainable Development Goals, including in Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Namibia, Panama, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uruguay. In Haiti, Nauru, the Republic of Moldova, Samoa and Uganda OHCHR additionally assisted in the elaboration or revision of national human rights action plans. 15. Through the treaty body capacity-building programme, OHCHR provided national and regional training courses, building the capacities of officials from more than 50 States. It produced guidance and training materials and continued upgrading the Universal Human Rights Index. 6. Humanitarian funds 16. The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, both administered by OHCHR, awarded grants to support redress and rehabilitation for about 10,000 victims of contemporary forms of slavery in 32 States and for about 40,000 victims of torture in 78 States. The Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture also issued emergency grants to respond to cases occurring in human rights and humanitarian crises. The Special Fund established by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment supported 13 prevention projects in 12 States parties. 3

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