UN Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
Mandate
The Fund was established by the General Assembly in 1991 (A/RES/46/122) with the purpose to provide, through established channels of assistance, humanitarian, legal and financial aid to individuals who are victims of contemporary forms of slavery.
The Fund focuses particularly on individuals who suffer from the most severe forms of human rights violations occurring in the context of slavery, as well as the most identifiable contemporary forms of slavery – chattel slavery, debt bondage, human trafficking, serfdom, child labour and servitude, forced labour, and/or forced marriage.
The distinctive value of the Fund is its ability to provide concrete assistance to the victims of contemporary forms of slavery including housing, legal aid, psycho-social support, food, medical care, training and sustainable sources of incomes.
Previous projects undertaken with the Fund’s grants include medical, psychological, education and housing assistance aid for women and girls victims of forced marriages in the Middle East region, vocational training to victims of human trafficking for sexual and economic exploitation in the African region; support to rehabilitation centers for sexually and physically abused street children in the Latin American region, support for children used as jockey camels and projects to identify and release bonded labourers in the agriculture, carpet and construction industries. The Fund bridges the gaps not addressed by other UN programmes and has a dynamic and integrated approach.
Additional information on the Fund can be found in reports of the Fund, to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.
Board of Trustees
The Fund is administrated by the Secretary General, who is advised by a Board of Trustees. The Board is composed of five persons with relevant experience in the field of human rights, and contemporary forms of slavery in particular, serving in their personal capacity. The members of the Board are appointed by the Secretary-General with due regard to equitable geographical distribution, for three-year, once renewable terms.
How to contribute to the Fund
The graph shows the total number of grants awarded in relation to the number of applications received between the years 1999-2010 where the number of applications received far outstrip the number of grants awarded. In 1999, the Fund received 23 applications, but only awarded 5 grant. The gap between the applications received and the grants awarded has gradually increased, peaking in 2009 with 63 grants awarded against 274 admissible applications
The need of NGOs for support to address contemporary forms of slavery continues to mount. At its fifteenth session held from 6 to 10 December 2010, the Board examined about 243 project applications, which together amount to a total of US$ 3,754,000. During the sixteenth session, the Board is expected to consider a similar number of proposals. To meet this overwhelming number of requests for funding, the Board of Trustees urges donors to increase their contributions if possible in order to provide the Board with the resources to meet the growing needs of victims of contemporary forms of slavery.
Donors are invited to contribute annually to the Fund before the session of the Board in December of each year.
Contact us
Mailing address:
UNVFVS
OHCHR
Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland.
Physical location:
Palais Wilson Rue de Paquis, 52
1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Phone (41) 22 917 93 76
Fax (41) 22 917 90 17
Email: slaveryfund@ohchr.org