United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT) Circular nº 1/2023: Call for 2024 Applications
Opis
The Secretariat of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT) is pleased to announce that the Fund will accept requests for funding from 15 January to 1 March 2023, for grants that will be used between 1 January and 31 December 2024.
Applications will be received and reviewed on a rolling basis until 1 March 2023. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
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 medical, psychological, social, economic, legal, humanitarian, educational or other forms of direct assistance. Examples of issues addressed by direct assistance projects include, inter alia, the following: victims of torture and intersecting discrimination, such as persons with disabilities, LGBTI persons and minorities; gender- based violence amounting to torture; denial of medical treatment or care, including in places of deprivation of liberty; excessive use of force amounting to torture, notably in the context of protests and social movements; attacks amounting to acts of torture against human rights defenders working under restrictive or retaliatory measures. The Fund welcomes any project proposal that is compliant with the Fund’s mandate and designed in line with the Fund’s Guidelines.
The Fund will also receive a small number of applications for capacity building projects aimed at strengthening the development and/or capacity of individuals, organizations or specialized networks (for example hospitals, professional associations, rehabilitation centres, etc.) in order to ensure specialized provision of direct assistance to torture survivors and their family members.
Applications from all regions will be accepted. All applications should be submitted in English, French or Spanish.
Only applications that strictly comply with the Guidelines of the Fund will be considered. Please refer to the Guidelines when drafting and before submitting the application (available here: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/about-us/grant/2023-01-05/Guidelines-UN- Torture-Fund2023_EN.pdf). Organizations should pay particular attention to the following paragraphs of the Guidelines, that have been updated:
- Paragraph 19 – related to the principle of co-funding
- Paragraph 49 – related to the period to be covered by grants
- Paragraph 99 – related to the payment and use of the grant
- Paragraph 140 – related to the audit reports
Direct assistance grants range between US$ 30,000 and US$ 100,000. Only “on-going”1 applicant organizations submitting a continuation of a funded project proposal in the same country of implementation may request a grant of more than US$ 50,000. Applications for direct assistance grants from “first-time”2 or “returning”3 applicant organizations cannot exceed US$ 50,000. Capacity building project proposals cannot exceed US$ 50,000 for all categories of applicant organizations (on- going, first-time and returning).
Applications will be reviewed on a competitive basis, taking into account the merit of the application, the needs addressed and satisfactory compliance with the Fund’s Guidelines. The Board also considers the geographic distribution of resources. The awarding of grants is subject to the availability of funds.
As a general rule, direct assistance grants in the same country of implementation can be awarded to a given organization on a yearly basis for a maximum of ten consecutive years, subject to a satisfactory evaluation of the project and availability of funds. On-going applicants whose direct assistance grant has been discontinued are ineligible to apply for another direct assistance grant in the same country of implementation for the following three years. Capacity building grants in the same country of implementation can be awarded to a given organization on a yearly basis for a maximum of three consecutive years.
How to apply
Applications should be submitted through the on-line grants management system (GMS – available here: https://grants.ohchr.org/Default.aspx). After logging into GMS, enter into the 58th Session.
We encourage applicants to refer to the user’s manual available on the GMS main page for useful information about submitting their application through the system (available here: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/torture/unvfvt/2023-01-11/UNVFVT- Users-manual-for-application-and-reports-EN.pdf)
Applicants are strongly encouraged to secure sufficient time to complete the application prior to the expiration of the deadline. In particular, organizations wishing to apply to the Fund for the first time must submit a request to register through GMS before they can submit an online application. First- time applicants will receive an automatic notification by e-mail of the approval of their registration, as well as the link (valid for a limited time) that will allow them to create a password to access the online account. To report technical problems or request additional assistance while completing the application, organizations should contact the Secretariat by email: philippe.tissier@un.org
New requirement
Organizations that have not yet done so, must register in the United Nations Partner Portal (available here: https://www.unpartnerportal.org/registration), which is a pre-requisite to enter into agreements with the United Nations.
For organizations that have projects funded by the UNVFVT in 2022
Financial and narrative reports on the use of 2022 grants should be submitted through the online grants management system of the Fund between 15 January and 1 March 2023.
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 financial and narrative reports (and audit report where applicable) on the use of all previous grants, will not be eligible to apply for a 2024 grant.
1 Organizations that are currently implementing a direct assistance, capacity building or emergency project for which they received a grant from the Fund.
2 Organizations that have never applied to the Fund.
3 Organizations that have never received a grant or organizations that have received a grant from the Fund in the past but not in the previous year(s).