ADMISSIBILITY OF PROJECTS

Applicants

1. As a rule, only applications by non-governmental organizations are admissible. Applications by governmental, parliamentary or administrative entities, political parties or national liberation movements are inadmissible.
2. In order to avoid retaining fees on the funds channeled and to maintain control over its use, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (hereafter referred to as “the Fund”) does not, as a rule, subsidize a project through another organization.
   
   

Beneficiaries



3. Beneficiaries of projects must be victims of torture. Beneficiaries can also be direct family members of victims of torture. A compilation of the definition of torture in international law can be downloaded from the Fund's website or requested from the Secretariat.
   
   

Types of projects



4. Priority in allocating grants is given to projects providing direct medical, psychological, social, economic, legal, humanitarian, educational or other forms of assistance, to torture victims and members of their family who, due to their close relationship with the victim, were directly affected at the time of the event.
   
5. Organizations submitting applications for projects to provide direct legal assistance to victims of torture should submit information on whether access to legal aid is available through a State mechanism, in conformity with domestic law. The Fund does not provide financial compensation to victims. The list of the victims to be assisted under legal aid should be provided together with the application form.
   
6. "Direct assistance” rendered to victims and/or their family members in the form of economic support should be in kind and only in exceptional cases in cash. Moreover, in cases where assistance may be provided in cash grants (for transportation costs for instance), efficient monitoring mechanisms should be in place to ensure that the money reaches the beneficiary and is used for the intended purpose. In this respect, the organization should provide the Secretariat with its written policy and criteria regarding the allocation and monitoring of cash assistance, including minimum and maximum amounts that may be allocated, purposes for which cash may be awarded, system in place for the disbursement of monies and follow-up to ensure the effective use of the grants awarded.
   
7. A direct assistance project may also include an in-house training component for professionals involved in direct assistance of victims of torture within reasonable limits of the total cost of the project.
   
8. Applications for projects seeking to organize training, seminars or conferences for health or other professionals providing assistance to victims of torture, are admissible, subject to the availability of funds. A separate application should be submitted for such projects.
   
9. Activities such as investigations, studies, research, and publication of newsletters or similar activities are ineligible for funding from the Fund. However, funding of activities to raise awareness among torture victims of services provided by organizations, such as leaflets and WebPages, is acceptable within reason in the context of the project. Expenses related to production and distribution of information materials to disseminate CAT and OPCAT provisions with a view to ensuring access to justice to victims of torture are admissible as well.
   
10. As a rule, projects aiming to establish a new organization are inadmissible.
    
    

Budget of the project



11. In order to be admissible, budgets should be based on realistic local costs and salaries. Over-budgeting shall result in the inadmissibility of the application or the obligation to refund all or part of the grant.
    
    

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS



Deadline




12. In order to be admissible, applications must be submitted to the Fund's Secretariat BEFORE 1 APRIL of each year, unless otherwise indicated by the Secretariat.
    
    

Application forms




13. The Secretariat of the Fund will declare inadmissible all applications which do not use the Fund's format, do not provide information on all its items, or in any other manner do not comply with the Guidelines of the Fund. Applications may be submitted in English, French or Spanish. The Board of Trustees of the Fund will not consider a request for funding from an organization that has overdue reports.
    
14. Applications for funding are prepared and submitted through the On-line Grant Application System of the Fund. Applicants are also requested to submit the printout of the application by mail, duly signed and dated by the project leader, to the Secretariat of the Fund.
    
15. Organizations should check that all the data regarding their mailing address, contact persons, contact numbers and banking information are accurate, since they are essential for communication with the Secretariat and payment of grants. Organizations must inform the Secretariat of the Fund about any changes as soon as they occur.
    
16. Organizations applying for a grant should provide all the banking details requested in the Application form, including the IBAN and SWIFT codes, where applicable. Since grants are paid in US dollars by bank to bank transfer, the organization's bank account must be able to receive foreign payments in that currency. The name of the beneficiary of the bank account must be the name of the applying organization. If the bank account is in the name of a private individual, the application will be declared inadmissible by the Secretariat of the Fund.
    
    

First time applications to the Fund



17. Organizations which submit an application to the Fund for the first time should:
    

(a) provide background information on the organization;

(b) include documentary evidence that its staff has relevant experience in providing direct assistance to victims of torture (their curriculum vitae should be attached);

(c) explain the aims and justification of the project;

(d) provide copy of the statutes of the organization;

(e) provide a copy of the legal registration of the organization (if available);

(f) provide a minimum of two reference letters from donors, competent organizations or experts in the field of assistance to victims of torture; and

(g) provide 10 detailed case studies of victims of torture to be assisted with the Fund's grant (names may be withheld).

18. The Board considers that a recently established organization whose staff members previously belonged to another organization already financed by the Fund should not be considered as first-time applicant.
    
    

Non-discrimination principle



19. Organizations applying to the Fund should provide documentary evidence that assistance is provided to victims of torture and their family members without any kind of distinction, such as race, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. A project assisting a particular target group may be admissible, provided that the justification for such a project is deemed satisfactory by the Board and that it is also open to other groups in need of assistance.
    
    

Period to be covered by the grant



20. Grants requested from the Fund can cover a period of up to 12 months.
    
21. A new grant for the continuation of a project may be requested each year, provided that the narrative, financial and audit reports on the use of all previous grants have been declared satisfactory by the Board. However, organizations should not expect that a grant will automatically be renewed.
    
22. Grantees are reminded that any grant awarded must be used within the given implementation period. Unspent amounts or carry-overs will have to be refunded or deducted from any future grant, should they be awarded.
    
    

Budget of the project



23. As a rule, the amount requested to the Fund should not exceed one third of the budget of the project. In regions considered by the Board of Trustees of the Fund as priority, as indicated in each annual call for applications, the amount requested should not exceed two-third of the budget of the project of assistance to victims of torture. No project should be totally dependent on the Fund. Organizations must provide proof (in the form of applications to donors, or pledges by donors) that other donors are contributing to the project. Secured sources of funding must be distinguished from those merely envisaged. Grantees are also invited to indicate whether a contribution is in cash or in-kind.
    
24. Exceptionally, the Board may recommend to finance projects which do not attain the required level of matching funds provided that:

(a)The organization was visited by a United Nations official and the outcome of the assessment was positive;

(b)The accounts are adequately maintained;

(c)The reporting is satisfactory;

(d)Beneficiaries include new cases or victims of recent torture;

(e)The organization can provide documentary evidence

(f)The project is a small or medium size project, and

(g)The grant awarded does not exceed US$30,000.

Organizations are however encouraged to continue to look for other sources of funding. The situation will be reviewed every year by the Board on a case by case basis to determine whether the Fund should continue supporting projects under these conditions.

25. In order to verify grantees' compliance with the requirement to raise two-thirds funding from other sources, the Fund's Secretariat will contact other donors to confirm the authenticity of the information provided by grantees without prior consultation with the latter.
    
26. As a rule, grantees will not receive more than a maximum amount of US$200,000.
    
27. Funding requested from the Fund could cover different types of expenditures but should focus on providing direct assistance to victims of torture. Administrative costs should be reduced to the strict minimum.
    
28. The project's proposed budget should indicate in detail the items and sub-items of expenditure to be covered with the grant requested from the Fund.
    
29. In case of award, grantees are requested to submit, by the deadline indicated in the letter of notification, a revised and detailed budget adjusted to the amount approved by the Board of Trustees. The Secretariat has been instructed by the Board not to release grants, should any changes be found not to be in conformity with the initial application and the Guidelines of the Fund. In addition, failure to submit a revised budget within the established deadline will lead to the cancellation of the grant. The submission of the revised budget adjusted to the amount awarded constitutes acceptance of all terms included in the Guidelines of the Fund and all provisions found in the letter of notification.
    
30. Any subsequent changes to budget items of expenditure already approved by the Fund must be submitted to, and authorized by, the Secretariat of the Fund prior to engaging the expenditure.
    
    

Projects for training or seminars



31. Applications for grants to organize training, seminars or conferences which aim to provide direct assistance to victims of torture should be submitted on a separate Application Form and should include:

(a)discussed; be to themes

(b)the draft programme;

(c)a provisional list of speakers and trainers;

(d)a provisional list of participants; and

(e)the expected benefit for victims of torture.

32. The amount awarded by the Fund for such projects will not exceed US$30,000 per application. Speaker fees are not eligible to be covered by a grant from the Fund.
    
33. These applications should be sent well in advance of the training event or seminar, since the Board does not subsidize events which have already taken place.
    
34. After the meeting, the final lists of speakers and trainers, participants and training materials must be sent by email to the Secretariat, as well as a report on the training/seminar and any documentation relating to assistance to victims of torture or other outcomes, such as books, videos, etc.
    
    

III. USE OF THE FUND'S GRANTS



35. By accepting a grant, organizations adhere to all its guidelines and accept to comply with any other conditions mentioned in the letter sent by the Secretariat informing of the Secretary-General's decisions.
    
36. The above-mentioned condition is meant to ensure that recipient organizations will use the grant in conformity with the application and revised budget submitted to the Fund on the basis of which the grant was approved.
    
    

IV. REPORTING ON THE USE OF GRANTS



Deadline



37. Organizations for which a grant was approved should submit their narrative, financial and audit reports by 1 April of the following year, unless otherwise indicated by the Secretariat.
    
38. A grant for which certain conditions (usually complementary information) must be fulfilled before it can be paid is a “pending grant”. A pending grant may be cancelled if the conditions are not satisfactorily met within the given deadline. Therefore, organizations should never pre-pay budgeted expenditures nor assume that a pending grant will be paid.
    
39. Organizations for which a pending grant has been released will be informed in a letter from the Secretariat of the deadline for submission of narrative, financial and other reports to the Fund.
    
40. Even if a pending grant has still not been paid by 1 April (deadline for submitting new applications for funding) the organization may nevertheless submit an application for the following year.
    
    

Reporting form



41. Reports should be drafted in accordance with the report submission form which can be obtained from the Fund's Secretariat or downloaded from the website of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (see address below). Reports may be drafted in English, French or Spanish. Reports must be sent by airmail in their original format only (no copies, no binding devices). An additional copy must also be sent by e-mail to unvfvt@ohchr.org.
    
42. As of January 2009, reports on the use of grants will be prepared and submitted exclusively through the On-line Grant Reporting System of the Fund. Grantees will also be requested to submit the printout of the report by mail, duly signed and dated, to the Secretariat of the Fund.
    
43. The Secretariat of the Fund will declare inadmissible all reports which are not duly signed and dated by the project leader.
    
44. The narrative and financial reports should provide answers to all the items stated in the Secretariat's reporting form and must show precisely how the grant of the Fund was used to assist victims of torture. Incomplete reports will be considered inadmissible.
    
45. In cases where awards are received from national or international courts as a result of successful litigation, legal fees paid by the Fund need not be returned, in accordance with the conditions under which the grant was allocated. However, the Fund encourages organizations to use any such awards for the continued protection of victims of torture and to keep the Fund informed as to how organizations intend to use any such future awards.
    
46. Organizations should provide detailed data on victims assisted by:

(a)women) (men)

(b)age (children/ adults/ aged persons)

(c)nationality

(d)legal status (nationals/ refugees/ asylum-seekers)

(e)type of assistance provided (medical/psychological/legal/social/economic, etc.

47. Project leaders are requested to certify that all the information provided in the narrative and financial reports is accurate and true. They must also confirm their awareness that failure to comply with this obligation might result in the refund of the grant.
    
48. A Project Summary Form should also be submitted to the Secretariat with the narrative and financial reports. This form can be downloaded from the Fund's Web site and should be sent by e-mail and preferably in English. As of January 2009, this information will be submitted exclusively through the On-line Grant Reporting System of the Fund.
    
    

Submission of 10 case studies



49. Every organization should include, as part of its narrative report, studies of ten cases of victims assisted with the grant from the Fund. Case studies should be drafted according to the instructions attached to the reporting form and the specifications hereunder.
    
50. Case studies should include the following information:

(a)The history of the victim (including dates and places, the context in which and by whom the victim was tortured; the physical and psychological after-effects on the victim);

(b)When and how the victims was referred to the organization;

(c)The type of assistance provided by the organization with the Fund's grant, including details on the number, type and frequency of consultations;

(d)The results expected from or already obtained through the assistance provided with the grant; and

(e)The assistance to be provided to the victim in the future.

51. The information included in the case studies will be kept confidential and will serve only for the internal use of members of the Fund's Secretariat and Board of Trustees, who are United Nations experts appointed by the Secretary-General. They will only handle this information in private meetings within United Nations building. The purpose of these studies is to understand, through examples of individual cases, the type of assistance provided by the organization to victims of torture.
    
    

Finance questionnaire



52. A questionnaire on the grantees' financial organization should be completed at the time of award of the first grant and updated as necessary. The information gathered will be used to assess the internal control system of the organization.
    
    

Reporting on training and seminars



53. The narrative and financial reports on the use of a grant approved for training or seminar activities should include the following final documents:

(a)List of participants;

(b)List of speakers/trainers;

(c)The programme; and

(d)Any other documents, proceedings, conclusions, recommendations , publications, videos or other relevant documents related to the activities financed by the Fund.



Financial report and audit



54. All organizations subsidized by the Fund should allow the Secretariat full access to their financial records and provide a financial report on the use of the grant paid by the Fund, following the indications mentioned in the reporting form of the Secretariat.
    
55. As of 2007, all grants of US$50,000 and above, as well as a number of randomly selected grants below US$50,000 must be audited.
    
56. The audit report, including an audit certificate of compliance with the UNVFVT grant and an audit management letter issued by an independent authority, must be submitted to the Secretariat of the Fund by 1 April of the following year.
    
57. Organizations whose grant is below US$50,000 and which have been randomly selected to be audited will be notified by the Secretariat. All organizations will be audited every three years. When grantees are requested to provide an audit report on the use of the Fund's grant, the costs relating to the audit may be covered by the grant within reasonable limits.
    
    

Obligation to submit reports



58. If satisfactory reports on a previous grant have not been received, the Board will not consider any new application for a grant and, as the case may be, will recommend the refund of the grant not reported on. If the organization does not refund the grant within the time-limit indicated by the Board, no new application from the organization concerned will be declared admissible.
    
    

Retention of records



59. Grantees are required to maintain records of expenses including all receipts and invoices and reports documenting how past grants were spent as well as clients' files with information on assistance received in the context of the project's expenses . With due regard to any legal restriction, this information should be available at the grantees premises for a period of five years for inspection by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
    
    

V. VISIT TO PROJECTS



Field visits to projects



60. In order to better understand and evaluate the work done and planned, members of the Board or of the Fund's Secretariat shall visit projects and meet with staff members of the organization implementing the project, as well as with victims of torture or members of their families assisted with the Fund's grant. The Secretariat will inform in advance organizations concerned when such a visit takes place. All organizations are expected to fully cooperate with the official undertaking the visit. A confidential report on this evaluation will be prepared for consideration by the members of the Board at their annual session.
    
61. The organization has the obligation to provide access to their financial files to the evaluator during the visit.
    
62. Should the evaluation of the project be negative, or incomplete due to the limited access to files, staff and/or beneficiaries, the Secretariat of the Fund or the Board of Trustees will cancel any pending grant, discontinue funding for the project, or request a total or partial refund of the grant as appropriate.
    
63. As a rule, all first time applicants are to be visited by the Secretariat of the Fund or a UN Office in the field before any new grant is paid.
    
    
    


Cooperation with United Nations Organizations



64. Information may be provided or requested by the Fund on projects it subsidizes, to other United Nations staff posted in the field, and to representatives of other United Nations agencies, funds or programmes, such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). If an evaluation visit by those officials to the project is decided, the Fund's Secretariat shall inform the project leader in advance and request his/her full cooperation.
    
65. The Fund's Secretariat may inform United Nations representatives on-site that grants have been approved for projects in the country concerned, so that they are aware of the Fund's relationship with the organizations in charge of those projects.
    
    

VI. SECRETARIAT THE WITH COMMUNICATION



66. The Secretariat should be informed of any change of contact person or the person in charge of the project. Any changes in the banking details or in respect of the organization's address, telephone, fax, e-mail or other contact information should also be immediately notified to the Secretariat of the Fund to ensure that communication between the Secretariat and the organization is maintained.
    
    

VII. MISMANAGEMENT OR FRAUD



67. In cases where the Board considers that there has been fraud or mismanagement in an organization supported by the Fund, no further application will be accepted unless the organization has taken serious internal measures to address the situation, and provides evidence which the Board finds satisfactory.
    
    

VIII. HEARING OF PROJECT LEADERS



68. At its annual session, the Board may hear project leaders, in particular those who submitted an application for the first time. Requests for hearing should be addressed to the Secretariat of the Fund. Travel costs arising from such visits may not be charged to the United Nations or to the Fund.
    
69. The Board of Trustees may request project leaders to present the activities of their organization in person, in these cases travel expenses will be borne by the Fund.
    
    

IX. WITHHOLDING OF PAYMENTS



70. Should information on a project received after the annual session of the Board of Trustees raise doubts concerning over-budgeting or mismanagement, the Secretariat can decide, if needed upon consultation with the Chairperson, to withhold the payment of a grant or to request a project leader not to spend a grant already paid until the situation is clarified.
    
    

X. REFUND OF GRANTS



71. The Secretariat of the Fund or the Board of Trustees may request organizations to totally or partially refund a grant when:

(a) the project was not implemented in full or in part;

(b) the grant was spent for expenditures other than those mentioned in the budget proposal submitted to, and approved by, the Board;

(c) no narrative report, or financial report, or audit was submitted within the deadline established by the Board or the Secretariat;

(d) narrative report and/or a financial report submitted was declared not satisfactory;

(e) a negative evaluation of the project following a visit, or

(f) any othe r reason provided by the Secretariat of the Fund.



XI. EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE



Emergency grants for organizations



72. Provided that sufficient funds are available, and on an exceptional basis, organizations can submit a request for emergency assistance between two sessions of the Board for projects currently subsidized by the Fund which encounter financial difficulties. Requests for funding will be examined by the Board of Trustees.
    
73. Organizations should send their requests for emergency funding on the usual Secretariat's application form as well as a detailed letter of introduction explaining the reason for this request.
    
74. Emergency assistance shall not be granted in case of cash flow difficulties which beneficiary organizations may be experiencing during the inter-sessional period. Applications will be considered eligible only in case of an unpredictable situation relating to a sudden increase in the number of victims assisted as a result of an influx of torture victims due to a humanitarian crisis. The emergency fund should not be used for educational purposes, such as the funding of trainings or seminars.
    
    

Emergency grants for victims of torture



75. On an exceptional basis, provided that sufficient funds are available, a victim of torture may apply for emergency assistance in cases where in the victim's country there is no project financed by the Fund or any other relevant project. The application should be accompanied by a medical certificate showing that the victim suffers from after-effects of torture, as well as any other kind of relevant supporting documentation showing that the individual is a victim of torture (the context in which torture took place, identification of torturers, types of torture suffered, after-effects, type of assistance requested, estimates of the costs of such assistance, etc.). In case medical assistance is requested, a detailed medical report explaining precisely to what extent the victim's suffering is the result of torture, what are the medical needs of the victim and the estimated cost of medical treatment, should be submitted.

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INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THE 10 CASE STUDIES FOR THE NARRATIVE REPORT

( Not more than 1 page per case )

The ten case studies (which may be anonymous) should contain the following information:

1. The personal history of the victim:

(a) In what context the victim was tortured, including dates and places;

(b) The description of torture suffered;

(c) The type of perpetrator involved;

(d) The description of psychological and physical after-effects suffered.


2. The assistance provided under the project:

(a) How and when (date) the victim came into contact with, or was referred to, the organization;

(b) The description of assistance was provided to the victim under the project, including details on the number, type and frequency of consultations;

(c) The staff members who carried out the assistance;

(d) Where the assistance was provided.

3. The results:

What results have been achieved through the assistance provided

4. Future assistance:

(a) Describe the assistance to be provided to the victim under this project;

(b) For how long the assistance will be provided;

(c) What results are expected.

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For additional information, please contact the Secretariat of the Fund:

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
CH – 1211 Geneva 10
Tel.: + 41.22.917.93.15
Fax: + 41.22. 917.90.17
Email: unvfvt@ohchr.org
Website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Pages/TortureFundMain.aspx
Version revised in October 2007, will apply to requests for funding for the year 2008.