Mandates & achievements

In accordance with its resolution 19/26 of 23 March 2012, the Human Rights Council (HRC) established the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to Support the Participation of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the work of the HRC.

The Fund, which is managed by the Human Rights Council Branch at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), provides funding for the following activities:

• targeted training courses and capacity-building activities, including e-learning, on the international human rights system, international human rights law and the rules and functioning of the HRC and its mechanisms;
• support to government officials to participate in HRC sessions;
• Fellowship programmes for government officials from LDCs/SIDS to undertake three-month work placements relating to the work of the HRC; and
• induction training sessions for government officials of LDCs/SIDS to provide them with information on the multilateral human rights system as well as focused, practical training related to the work procedures of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms.

A strengthened mandate on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Trust Fund

On 24 March 2017, the Human Rights Council adopted without a vote resolution 34/40 entitled"Promoting the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to Support the Participation of Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States in the Work of the Human Rights Council". Resolution 34/40 was sponsored /co-sponsored by 120 countries making it the second most sponsored Human Rights Council resolution at the time. In this resolution, the HRC decides that the Trust Fund:

• conducts at least one briefing a year in New York on the outcomes of the regular and special sessions of the Human Rights Council, prior to the commencement of each session of the General Assembly. The briefing aims at supporting the engagement of LDCs/SIDS delegations in the work of the Third Committee;
• conducts workshops in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and the Caribbean, before the tenth anniversary of the Trust Fund, reflecting on its achievements, identifying where further improvements might be made and assessing the value of its activities in fulfilling its training and capacity-building mandate in support of the engagement of LDCs/SIDS and its mechanisms;
• and requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report in which the Office evaluates the activities of the Trust Fund in meeting its training and capacity-building mandate, and to present the report to the Human Rights Council at its forty-ninth session.

A landmark moment for Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States

In a decision (A/HRC/DEC/46/115) entitled "High-Level Panel discussion on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to Support the Participation of Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States in the Work of the Human Rights Council", adopted without a vote, the Council decides to convene, during the high-level segment of its forty-ninth session, a high-level panel discussion on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to Support the Participation of Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States in the Work of the Human Rights Council focused on the benefits of universal and meaningful participation of all States Members Of the United Nations in the work of the Human Rights Council. Decision A/HRC/DEC/46/115 was sponsored /co-sponsored by 160 UN Member States being the second most sponsored Human Rights Council resolution/decision since its establishment in 2006. In this decision, the Council:

• Decides to convene, during the high-level segment of its forty-ninth session, a high-level panel discussion on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to Support the Participation of LDCs/SIDS in the Work of the HRC focused on the benefits of universal and meaningful participation of all Member States of the UN in the work of the HRC, and that the discussion shall be fully accessible to persons with disabilities;
• Requests the OHCHR, through the LDCs/SIDS TF, to secure the participation of those Member States that do not have a permanent resident mission in Geneva, so as to achieve universal participation of Member States of the UN at the 49th session of the HRC, including in the high-level panel discussion; and
• Also requests the OHCHR to prepare a report on the panel discussion in the form of a summary and to submit it to the Human Rights Council at 50th session.
• Video Universal participation in the Human Rights Council in the Human Rights Council, Podcast UNOG
• Video The most sponsored resolution in the history of the Human Rights Council refers to Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States.
• Twitter link
• Webcast
• Key dates of the LDCs/SIDS Trust Fund (PPTX)

The most widely sponsored resolution since the Council’s establishment

In April 2022, Human Rights Council adopted its resolution 49/32 entitled “Strengthening the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to Support the Participation of Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States in the Work of the Human Rights Council”. This resolution was co-sponsored by 177 Member States, making it the most sponsored resolution since the establishment of the Council in 2006. In that resolution, the Council encouraged the Trust Fund to:

• Organize an annual briefing to raise awareness and review the activities of the Trust Fund;
• Explore, on a trial basis, ways to support delegates from least developed countries and small island developing States with a view to facilitating their participation in special sessions of the Human Rights Council and in important intersessional activities;
• Support the conduct of at least one briefing on the outcomes of the regular and special sessions of the Human Rights Council each year in New York for least developed countries and small island developing States, with a view to supporting the engagement of these delegations in the work of the Third Committee of the General Assembly;
• Continue to engage former beneficiaries of the Trust Fund from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific to exchange ideas on strengthening engagement with the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms; and
• Support the conduct of a regional workshop in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, with government officials, including former beneficiaries of the Trust Fund, before the fifteenth anniversary of the Trust Fund in 2027, reflecting on its achievements, identifying where further improvements to the activities of the Trust Fund might be made and assessing the value of its activities in fulfilling its training and capacity-building mandate in support of the engagement of least developed countries and small island developing States in the work of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms.