FUNDS ADMINISTERED BY UN HUMAN RIGHTS
ery, respectively. This translates into yearly grants that
are awarded to civil society organizations that provide
humanitarian, medical, psychological, social and legal
aid to victims. They are financed through voluntary contributions and are formally administered by the Secretary-General who acts on the advice of Boards of Trustees. The Boards distribute the grants in accordance
with the Fund mandates. In 2017, 26 Member States and
a handful of private donors made contributions to the
two Funds for a total of almost US$9 million. The contributions are not used to support the Office’s wider work.
United Nations Voluntary Fund for
the Victims of Torture
The United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of
Torture, established by General Assembly resolution
36/151 in 1981, aims to support projects around the
world which offer remedies and reparations, including
rehabilitation, to victims of torture and their families.
The Fund is administered by UN Human Rights on
behalf of the Secretary-General with the advice of a
Board of Trustees that is composed of five persons. In
2017, the Board members were: Ms. Gaby Ore Aguilar
(Peru); Mr. Mikolaj Pietrzak (Poland); Ms. Sara Hossein
(Bangladesh); Ms. Vivienne Nathanson (United Kingdom); and Mr. Lawrence Mute (Kenya).
In 2017, the Fund supported 173 regular projects for
direct assistance to over 45,000 victims of torture and
their families in more than 80 countries for a total of
US$7,169,300. In addition, the Fund supported a number of emergency projects implemented in Argentina,
France, Italy, the Russian Federation, Senegal and
Tunisia/Libya. Victims assisted included human rights
defenders, asylum-seekers, refugees and undocumented migrants, victims of sexual violence in armed
conflict, victims of enforced disappearances, indigenous peoples, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and intersex persons and individuals who have been
tortured in detention. Practitioners sponsored by the
Fund included medical doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists, human rights lawyers and social workers.
The Fund also invested resources in monitoring and
evaluating project proposals, in particular through visits to applicants and grantees. In 2017, a total of 65
projects were visited by the Secretariat team, field
presences and the Fund’s Trustees. Recommendations were formulated and partnerships were subsequently renewed or terminated.
In 2017, the Voluntary Fund convened a specialized Expert Workshop on the theme of “torture in the context of
118
UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2017
migration,” with a particular focus on the early identification of torture victims. In anticipation of the Workshop,
the Fund published a report, entitled Torture victims in
the context of migration, and produced two related videos, which are available at www.ohchr.org/torturefund.
UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture
Voluntary contributions in 2017
Donor
Austria
Canada
Chile
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
India
Ireland
Italy
Kuwait
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Norway
Peru
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
Turkey
United States of America
Individual donors
US$
16,797
45,113
5,000
9,029
430,354
22,753
650,061
25,000
91,300
43,865
10,000
24,826
17,422
94,877
1,482
75,000
5,537
5,000
203,252
10,000
6,550,000
309
TOTAL
8,336,978
United Nations Voluntary Trust
Fund on Contemporary Forms of
Slavery
The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, established by General Assembly
resolution 46/122, in 1991, provides financial support to
non-governmental organizations that are assisting victims of contemporary forms of slavery to obtain assistance and redress. Modern forms of slavery are brought
to light on a regular basis and include serfdom, forced
labour, bonded labour, trafficking in persons and in human organs, sexual slavery, the worst forms of child labour, early and forced marriage, inherited widows, the
sale of wives and other forms of slavery.
The Trust Fund is administered by UN Human Rights on
behalf of the Secretary-General, acting on the advice
of a five-member Board of Trustees. The Board meets
annually to determine priorities and policies, review
working methods and adopt recommendations on new
grants. In 2017, the Board members were: Ms. Nevena
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