A/HRC/18/43 12. In her statement, the Chairperson of the International Coordinating Committee on National Human Rights Institutions, Rosslyn Noonan, welcomed the work and the consultative approach of the Expert Mechanism. She also stated that national human rights institutions were key actors in the promotion of the studies undertaken by the Expert Mechanism, and remained committed to contributing to its mandate. 13. In her remarks on behalf of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, Ms. Rivera Zea welcomed General Assembly resolution 65/198, which enables the fund to provide resources to representatives of indigenous peoples to participate in sessions of the Human Rights Council and human rights treaty bodies. She also thanked the contributors to the Voluntary Fund and called for more contributors, as there had been a decrease in donations. D. Election of officers 14. The outgoing Chairperson-Rapporteur invited the experts to nominate a ChairpersonRapporteur for its fourth session. Dr. Littlechild announced the experts’ consensus to nominate Mr. Bambanze and Ms. Chukhman as Chairperson-Rapporteur and Vice-ChairpersonRapporteur, respectively. Thereafter, the outgoing Chairperson-Rapporteur declared the two members elected by acclamation. 15. In his statement, the new Chairperson-Rapporteur thanked his predecessor as well as the other members of the Expert Mechanism for his election. He also thanked the High Commissioner for her presence and the support provided by her Office. He then recalled that the Expert Mechanism was a unique forum for discussing specific issues, and that it was guided by Human Rights Council resolution 6/36. 16. The Chairperson highlighted the inter-sessional activities of the Expert Mechanism, in particular in relation to the work of the Special Rapporteur, the Permanent Forum and the human rights treaty bodies. He welcomed the parallel meetings held by the Special Rapporteur and his team during the sessions of the Expert Mechanism to respond to allegations of human rights violations. 17. Lastly, he welcomed the assistance of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for its travel grants, as well as the contributions of different States. He concluded by inviting all participants to contribute to the fourth session of the Expert Mechanism effectively and to suggest substantive proposals to the Human Rights Council to contribute to the promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples. E. Adoption of the agenda 18. Before the agenda was adopted, Dr. Littlechild informed participants about the decision of the General Assembly to hold a World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in 2014. He emphasized the importance of ensuring the full participation of indigenous peoples at all stages of the World Conference. He highlighted the importance of the Expert Mechanism considering that issue at its next session. 19. The Expert Mechanism adopted the agenda and the programme of work of the fourth session.9 IV. Follow-up to thematic studies and advice 20. Ms. Lasimbang described the study of the Expert Mechanism on lessons learned and challenges to achieve the implementation of the right of indigenous peoples to education, and highlighted the fact that the focus of agenda item 3 was to solicit information from participants on how the study had been useful. She also referred to the half-day panel discussion on 9 8 A/HRC/EMRIP/2011/1.