A/RES/72/73 Oceans and the law of the sea Noting also that many coastal States Parties have submitted preliminary information indicative of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, as provided for in the decision of the eighteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention regarding the workload of the Commission and the ability of States, particularly developing States, to fulfil the requirements of article 4 of annex II to the Convention, as well as the decision contained in SPLOS/72, paragraph (a), 16 Noting further that some coastal States may continue to face particular challenges in relation to preparing and presenting submissions to the Commission, Noting that financial and technical assistance may be sought by developing countries for activities in relation to preparing and presenting submissions to the Commission, including through the voluntary trust fund established by the General Assembly in its resolution 55/7 of 30 October 2000 for the purpose of facilitating the preparation of submissions to the Commission for developing States, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, and compliance with article 76 of the Convention, as well as other accessible international assistance, Recognizing the importance of the trust funds established pursuant to res olution 55/7 in facilitating the participation of members of the Commission from developing States in the meetings of the Commission and in fulfilling the requirements of article 4 of annex II to the Convention, noting with appreciation the recent contributions made to them, while observing with concern that the lack of funds in the voluntary trust fund for the purpose of defraying the cost of the participation in its meetings of the members of the Commission from developing States may prevent the Commission from implementing the decision of the twenty-sixth Meeting of States Parties that requested the Commission to meet for up to 26 weeks, and may preclude the Commission from advancing its work as a result of th e potential lack of a quorum at the 2018 sessions, and in this regard urging States, international financial institutions, donor agencies, intergovernmental organizations, non -governmental organizations and natural and juridical persons to contribute to th e trust fund, Reaffirming the importance of the work of the Commission for coastal States and for the international community, Recognizing that practical difficulties can arise when there is a considerable delay between the preparation of submissions and their consideration by the Commission, including in retaining expertise up to and during the consideration of the submissions by the Commission, Recognizing also the significant workload of the Commission in view of the large number of submissions already received and a number of submissions yet to be received, which places additional demands and challenges on its members and the secretariat as provided by the Secretary-General of the United Nations through the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs of the Secretariat (the Division), and welcoming the decision of the twenty-first Meeting of States Parties to the Convention regarding the workload of the Commission, 17 Noting with concern the projected timetable of the work of the Commission on the submissions already received by it and those yet to be received, and in this regard noting the decision of the twenty-sixth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention to renew the request made by the twenty-first Meeting of States Parties to the Convention and to request the Commission to consider, in coordination with the Secretariat, as from 16 June 2017, within the existing resources made available to the Secretariat, that the Commission, and its subcommissions meeting simultaneously as __________________ 16 17 6/55 SPLOS/183. SPLOS/229. 17-21819