Focus on Implementing Laws and Supporting Innovation

United Nations, New York — The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, managed by UNIFEM on behalf of the UN system, issued its 2008 global annual call for proposals to support national and local initiatives working to end violence against women in the developing world and countries in transition on 28 April 2008. The Trust Fund, established in 1996 by the UN General Assembly, is an essential source of funding to promote strategies and solutions that make women safer, strengthen courts, law enforcement and enhance services for women.

The UN Trust Fund, which awards annual grants based on an open and competitive process, relies on the generous support from governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and individuals. Increased recognition of the need to invest in effective programmes to end violence against women has resulted in a stronger commitment by donors to the Trust Fund, and a larger amount of available grant money. For 2008, an estimated US$15 million is available, the largest in the history of the UN Trust Fund, and triple that of the previous year. As Joanne Sandler, UNIFEM’s Executive Director a.i., said: “While Trust Fund resources are rising, the amount available falls far short of the demand, which annually surpasses US$100 million. We are determined to vastly increase the resources of the Trust Fund because we have seen the positive impact from these strategic investments in Argentina, in Rwanda, in Nepal, and in the hundreds of p laces where Trust Fund projects have taken root. Without the generous support from a wide variety of donors, this progress would not be possible.”

Government contributors to the UN Trust Fund include Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Australia, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Spain, Slovenia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States of America. In addition, Ms. Sandler pointed to rising interest and commitment from the private sector and non-governmental organizations. She said: “A new partnership with Avon Products Inc. is this year bringing one million dollars to the Trust Fund, and a recent challenge grant from the UN Foundation for US$100,000 helped boost UNIFEM’s Internet-based Say No to Violence against Women campaign, associated with our tireless Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman. UNIFEM is grateful that Johnson & Johnson and civil society donors such as Zonta International, Berlin-based Cinema for Peace and UN IFEM National Committees are also strengthening their partnership.” The Say NO campaign supports the call for increased Trust Fund resources and, through gathering signatures, demonstrates that there is an ever-growing movement of people demanding that ending violence against women be a top priority.

Within the overall focus of supporting the implementation of national laws and plans of action on violence against women, the 2008 Call for Proposals is inviting civil society organizations, governments and UN Country Teams to submit programs on two areas: first, upscaling promising or proven approaches on ending violence against women and girls, and second, supporting innovative and catalytic proposals that will expand the global knowledge base on effective approaches to end violence against women.

The complete Call for Proposals detailing eligibility requirements and complete guidelines on how to apply by the 26 May deadline is available on the UNIFEM website.

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and the UNIFEM Say NO initiative strongly support UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign launched 25 February 2008. Violence against women is probably the most pervasive human rights violation and one in three women will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime.

Published in: "UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women Issues Annual Call for Proposals," Press Release, UNIFEM, 2 May 2008.