A/HRC/13/61 Voluntary Fund, including the challenges to be addressed. It was briefed on the situation of human rights components of United Nations peace missions in Afghanistan and TimorLeste and on the situation of human rights advisers in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka. OHCHR highlighted the successes achieved in Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea. The Board was also updated on the challenges faced in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. The Board reiterated its support and expressed its satisfaction for the effective human rights field presences in the region, highlighting the need for OHCHR to further develop specific intervention strategies and the importance of improving relations with United Nations country teams and UNDP representatives. 30. The Board was also informed of the process and thematic priorities developed by the Asia-Pacific region for the 2010–2011 biennium. The Board welcomed the continued support by the OHCHR Regional Office for South-East Asia (Bangkok) for the efforts of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to establish a human rights body in accordance with the Association’s Charter, adopted in 2007. D. Europe and Central Asia region 31. The Board noted the recent developments in the field presences in the Europe and Central Asia region, as well as the challenges — including political, human, financial and administrative constraints — to the implementation of priorities in the region. With regard to the financial situation, the Board was informed that work across this richly diverse region had been designed to fit the constraints. 32. The Board was briefed on the situation of human rights advisers in Georgia, Moldova and the Russian Federation and on the situation of the field presence in Kosovo. It learned about daily contact with counterparts in the field and the new projects that were implemented in 2009. In the Russian Federation, OHCHR had facilitated establishment of a human rights masters programme at leading Russian universities and the OHCHR fellowship programme for indigenous people in the Russian language. The Board was further informed of the recently opened Regional Office for Europe in Brussels and noted that it was a positive development for the Office’s work in the region on important thematic issues. The Board supported the work on national human rights action plans in the context of follow-up to universal periodic review (UPR), so long as those plans were dynamic documents whose implementation OHCHR could help realize. E. Americas region 33. The Board was updated on field presences, projects, activities, strategies, partners and regional priorities within the context of technical cooperation in the Americas, as funded by the Voluntary Fund. It was briefed on the situation of the human rights component of United Nations peace missions in Haiti, human rights advisers in Ecuador and Nicaragua and country offices in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, as well as regional offices in Chile and Panama. The Board was also informed of the successes achieved in Nicaragua and the steps taken to establish a human rights adviser in Honduras together with UNDP. The Board acknowledged the challenges faced and welcomed achievements realized. 34. The Board was also briefed on the objective for the next biennium to engage more with the English-speaking Caribbean in order to increase the level of ratification of international instruments in these countries, improve reporting status, increase open invitations to special procedures and enhance knowledge of the UPR mechanism. The Board was informed of the conditions of the national human rights institutions and the state 8 GE.10-10528