The Secretariat of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT) is pleased to announce that the Fund will accept project applications from 15 January to 1 March 2019, for grants that will be used between 1 January and 31 December 2020.
Grants may only be awarded to organizations for projects that provide direct assistance to victims of torture and their family members. Such assistance may be in the form of medical, psychological, legal or social assistance. Applications from all regions will be accepted. All applications should be submitted in English, French or Spanish. The Fund will also receive a small number of applications for training and seminar projects aimed at strengthening the internal capacity of the applicant organisation.
First time applicants or organizations previously supported by the Fund should submit project proposals that do not exceed USD 50,000. Ongoing grantees should note that project applications lower than USD 25,000 and higher than USD 150,000 will not be received. Please note that the average grant size of the Fund in 2019 was $45,000.
Only applications which strictly comply with the Guidelines of the Fund will be considered. Please refer to the Guidelines of the Fund when drafting and before submitting the application. (available here http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/UNVFT/Pages/Apply.aspx). Project applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
Applications will be reviewed in a competitive manner taking into account the merit of the proposal, the needs it addresses, and if applicable, the number of years of continuous support received previously from the Fund.
Kindly note that, as a general rule, projects for direct assistance to victims shall be supported on a yearly basis for a maximum of ten consecutive years, subject to a satisfactory evaluation of the project and availability of funds. After that, in the following three years, no application will be accepted from the Organisation in relation to a project in the same country of implementation.
How to apply?
Applications should be submitted through the on-line grants management system (GMS). Please follow this link https://grants.ohchr.org/Default.aspx). After logging into GMS, enter into the 50th Session.
A user’s manual is available on the GMS main page to assist organizations when submitting their application through the system (https://grants.ohchr.org/Default.aspx).
To report technical problems or request additional assistance while completing the application, applicants should address the Secretariat by email: unvfvt@ohchr.org
Applicants are strongly encouraged to secure sufficient time to complete the application prior to the expiration of the deadline. In particular, new applicants are advised to complete the registration process early to allow sufficient time to work on the application. Applications will be received and reviewed on a rolling basis until 1 March 2019.
Priorities:
For 2019, priority will be given to applications for projects to be implemented in:
Countries with shrinking or limited civil society space;
Countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central Asia and the Pacific that are under-represented among current UNVFVT grantees.
Link to list of grantees for 2019:
(https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Torture/UNVFVT/ListOfGrantees.pdf)
For organizations that have projects funded by UNVFVT in 2018:
Reports on the use of 2018 grants should be submitted through the online grants management system of the Fund between 15 January and 1 March 2019.
Project applications from an organization that has overdue reports will not be considered. An organization that has failed to submit by the set deadline satisfactory narrative, financial and audit reports on the use of all previous grants (including emergency grants), will not be eligible to apply to the Fund for a grant in 2020.