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S/2017/175 17-03268 5/6 Other activities carried out by the Secretariat with respect to the Syrian Arab Republic 11. The Steering Committee, which is comprised of representatives from the OPCW, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and the Syrian Arab Republic, will meet in Beirut, Lebanon, on 23 February 2017 to discuss an extension of the support services provided by UNOPS pursuant to the tripartite agreement between UNOPS, the OPCW, and the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the contribution agreement between the OPCW and UNOPS, as well as other matters related to the implementation of the activities set out in these agreements. 12. As requested by the Council at its Seventy-Fifth Session (paragraph 7.12 of EC-75/2, dated 7 March 2014), the Secretariat, on behalf of the Director-General, has continued to brief States Parties in The Hague on its activities. 13. As at the cut-off date of this report, one OPCW staff member was deployed as part of the OPCW Mission in the Syrian Arab Republic. Supplementary resources 14. As previously reported, a Trust Fund for Syria Missions was established in November 2015 to support the FFM and other remaining activities, such as those of the DAT. As at the cut-off date of this report, contribution agreements totalling EUR 7.9 million had been concluded with Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Monaco, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, and the European Union. Activities carried out with respect to the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission in Syria 15. Guided by Council decisions EC-M-48/DEC.1 and EC-M-50/DEC.1 (dated 23 November 2015), as well as United Nations Security Council resolution 2209 (2015), the FFM continued to study all available information relating to the allegations of use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic. 16. As reported previously, by letters dated 16 and 29 November 2016, the Syrian Arab Republic requested the FFM to investigate incidents reported to have occurred on 16 September, 31 October, 3 November, and 13 November 2016 in the area of Aleppo. During the reporting period, the FFM continued its work to translate and analyse the records of the 16 interviews conducted during its deployment in December 2016, along with the associated documentation. The samples provided by the Russian Federation to the Syrian Arab Republic and recovered by a team of OPCW experts from the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) at the beginning of January 2017 were sent to two OPCW designated laboratories for analysis. The team will continue to work with the National Authority of the Syrian Arab Republic to gather more information. 17. As presented during the briefing to States Parties on 15 February 2017, eight incidents of alleged use of chemical weapons have been recorded since the beginning of 2017 and are currently being analysed