Call for Proposals: UNVTF Small Grants Programme to support Human Trafficking Victims

About

The UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons has launched the eighth cycle of the Small Grants Programme.

The Special Window Call for Proposals will specifically target CSO interventions supporting human trafficking victims across Central Asia, East and Southern Europe, and Africa.

Objectives

• This Special Window Call for Proposals takes into consideration the importance of harnessing all available resources towards the implementation of activities aimed at meeting the objectives of this Grants programme. The main objectives of this Grants programme are:

  • to provide direct assistance and protection to vulnerable victims of trafficking in persons

  • to improve health and well-being, facilitate social integration and prevent re-trafficking amongst vulnerable victims of trafficking in persons

Thematic Focus and Priority Issues

• This call for proposals seeks to provide funding support to not-for-profit organisations working in the area of trafficking in persons whose projects are aimed at providing immediate and essential direct assistance for vulnerable victims of trafficking in persons.

• Priority shall be given to projects that target the following population:

  • Women and Children; and

  • Those most left behind, including underserved groups especially excluded or disadvantaged victims of human trafficking (such as persons with disabilities, LGBTQI, internally displaced and refugees, indigenous, older and members of ethnic minorities)

• Priority shall be given to projects that adapt programmes or design interventions:

  • Facilitating early identification of human trafficking victims;

  • Integrate use of innovative strategies and technologies supporting appropriate victim assistance;

  • Integrate survivor-focused financial inclusion and economic empowerment approaches to support victims’ rehabilitation and reintegration to society.

  • Promote engagement with persons with lived experience of trafficking and taking into account trauma-informed responses for victims’ reintegration into society.

  • The applicant must implement a project in one of the countries/territories listed.

• Priority shall be given to projects that target persons identified in the following situations:

  • persons identified among large movements of refugees and/or migrants, internally displaced persons affected due to conflict, post-conflict and continued instability, socio-political tensions or a breakdown of law and order.

  • persons identified in or fleeing areas that has been affected by the spill-over of climate change related displacement.

• Priority shall be given to projects that target the following forms of exploitation:

  • sexual exploitation

  • forced labour

  • organ removal

  • forced begging

  • forced criminal activity

  • forced marriage

  • production of pornographic material

  • recruitment of children into armed groups

  • child trafficking in Sport

Funding Information

• Proposals with budgets up to USD 20,000 will be considered for award. Please note that value for money will be assessed as a part of the rating criteria.

Duration

• All activities financed by this sub-programme must be implemented up to 9 months.

Eligible Projects

• Projects should be time-bound, and have a specific, finite objective that does not require further funding to sustain results over time. Costs, activities and beneficiaries of the proposed project must be distinguished from those relating to the applicant’s other operations.

Activities

• Activities that will be given priority include:

  • medical assistance

  • material assistance in the form of food, clothing etc.

  • immediate, safe and short-term shelter

  • legal advice and representation aimed at securing legal status and/or remedies

  • psychosocial assistance

  • education and/or vocational training

  • assistance with family reunification and/or repatriation with full consent of the victim

Ineligible

• The following types of project proposals are not eligible for funding:

  • Project proposals which discriminate against individuals or groups of people on grounds of their gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or lack of them, or their ethnic origin;

  • Projects focusing solely on campaigning or solely on awareness-raising;

  • Projects designed solely to produce studies, publications or newsletters, or to conduct research;

  • Activities that fall within the core mandate of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (e.g. legislative assistance, capacity building for criminal justice practitioners, establishment of institutional frameworks to combat trafficking in persons etc.), except victim protection and assistance;

  • Project proposals concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation in workshops, seminars, conferences, congresses;

  • Project proposals concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or training courses.

Eligibility

• In order to be eligible for a grant, applicants must:

  • be a non-profit making organisation (CSOs, CBOs) registered under the relevant Laws of the country where it is registered and in the country where it will be implementing the proposed project;

  • have been registered by 1 December 2021;

  • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the project, i.e., not acting as an intermediary;

  • demonstrate prior experience of at least two (2) year implementing activities in the area of direct assistance to victims of trafficking in persons in line with the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime or in providing other services to vulnerable populations including IDPs and forcibly displaced persons;

  • complete registration5 and pass verification in the UN Partner Portal (UNPP) with a valid Partner ID including Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Module;

  • have a bank account in the organisation’s name;

  • confirm that the organisation takes appropriate measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse and signs the Partner declaration form.

• When the applicant who was previously awarded a grant by UNVTF submits a new application, the funded project from the previous grant should have been programmatically and operationally concluded, i.e., the project has concluded/activities completed, and all required reports have been submitted without pending issues or unreturned unspent balance.

Post Date: December 22, 2023