A/HRC/23/16 Nations Development Group. The mechanism aims at responding directly to the increasing demand from Member States for more technical support on human rights mainstreaming and applying rights-based approaches to national development strategies. It also seeks to strengthen coordinated United Nations responses to requests from Member States for support in their efforts to meet their international human rights commitments. In October 2011, OHCHR and its partners launched the United Nations Development Group human rights mainstreaming mechanism Multi-donor Trust Fund, to strengthen the capacity of United Nations country teams in supporting the development of human rights capacities at the country level. A joint strategy to deploy human rights advisers to the offices of Resident Coordinators and United Nations country teams was launched in January 2012 to operationalize that process, which also expands opportunities for technical assistance in the field of human rights. 12. The Board expressed its appreciation for the development of the joint strategy and the launching of the Multi-donor Trust Fund, which is expected to facilitate responses to the increasing requests that OHCHR receives from Resident Coordinators for the deployment of human rights advisers in their respective country teams. During the preparation of the present report, the Board was informed that the Trust Fund would, in 2013, be able to cover 10 new deployments out of the 20 anticipated in the above-mentioned joint strategy owing to the limited contributions received. While the Board hopes that human rights mainstreaming mechanism will become a source of funding for a significant number of human rights advisers, it will cover only new deployments. The Board is also unsure whether the available funds will cover all needs and requests, and therefore considers that support for existing human rights advisers from the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation remains crucial. 13. The Board was updated on the field presences in all regions and the implementation of activities funded by the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the framework of the OHCHR Management Plan, the successes achieved and the partnerships on the ground with civil society, Governments, United Nations partners and United Nations country teams. The Board was also informed of the strategies being developed to address ongoing challenges in the regions of Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean region. 14. The Board was briefed on the situation of the human rights components of United Nations peacekeeping missions in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Sudan and South Sudan. It also received briefings on the situation of human rights advisers in Chad, Kenya, Madagascar, the Niger, Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region, and on the situation of country offices in Guinea, Togo and Uganda. 15. In the Africa region, the main areas of focus for technical assistance include elections and political transition, conflict situations, and the rule of law and impunity. The Board acknowledged the challenges faced in all these different countries and welcomed the achievements made in the field. 16. The Board received an overview of the human rights work of field presences in the Middle East and North Africa region, which are faced with a great number of requests for technical cooperation activities. A major challenge in the region is the establishment of institutions in the context of continuing political and social transformation. 17. The Board was briefed on the situation of the country office in Mauritania, the office in Tunisia and the special situation of the stand-alone office in Palestine. The Board welcomed the efforts made in this region despite the challenges and difficulties faced. 18. The Board was briefed on the situation of human rights components of United Nations peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and Timor-Leste, and on the situation of human rights advisers in Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka. The Board was also informed 5