Deadline: 31-May-24
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is pleased to announce a call for proposals for small grants to provide essential humanitarian, legal and financial aid to victims of trafficking in persons through established channels of assistance.
The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons (hereinafter referred to as ‘UNVTF’ or the ‘Trust Fund’) was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010 as part of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.
The UNVTF is managed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and benefits from the strategic guidance and expertise of a five-member Board of Trustees, appointed by the UN Secretary-General for a three-year term. Since its inception in 2010, the UNVTF has awarded over USD 6 million in grants to more than 162 CSO projects in over 60 countries, directly impacting the lives of over 80,000 victims of human trafficking.
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 Priorities
- 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 comprehensive medium-term 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, members of ethnic minorities, and those spread across small island developing states).
- Priority shall be given to projects that adapt programmes or design interventions:
- Facilitating early identification of human trafficking victims;
- Integrate use of innovative strategies, partnerships, 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.
- Priority shall be given to projects that target human trafficking victims identified in the following situations:
- Persons identified among large movements of refugees and/or migrants, including internally displaced persons where conflict, post-conflict and continued instability caused by sociopolitical 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.
- persons targeted by organized crime groups into forced criminality, including criminal cyberfraud operations (online scams/ pig-butchering/ financial grooming/ task scams/ sextortion etc)
- Priority will be given to the following type of applicants:
- Victim-centred organizations (to be considered as a ‘victim-centred organization’, the organization must demonstrate that its core work is in the field of providing assistance to victims of human trafficking, that places rights and dignity of victims, including their well-being and safety at the forefront of all their efforts. The organization’s official mission and vision statements must reflect this commitment.
- Priority shall be given to projects that target the following population:
Funding Information
- Proposals with budgets up to USD 40,000 will be considered for award.
- 2% of the budget amount will be reserved/held for monitoring visit of UNODC to the awarded project.
- Duration: All activities financed by this sub-programme must be implemented between eighteen to twenty-one (18-21) months.
Priority 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
Eligibility Criteria
- 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 January 2022;
- 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;
- Provide at least two reference letters from past or current donors/ government partners with contact details.
- complete registration and pass verification in the UN Partner Portal (UNPP) with a valid Partner ID;
- 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.
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;
- Credit or loan schemes;
- Debts and provisions for losses or debts;
- Project proposals which consist of capital expenditure e.g. land, buildings, equipment, vehicles, etc;
- Cash donations;
- Political party and religious activities;
- Project proposals which provide funding for terrorist activities.
For more information, visit UNODC.