UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women

The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) was established in 1996 by UN General Assembly Resolution 50/166. The Trust Fund identifies and supports innovative initiatives around the world that aim to break new ground in the growing movement to eliminate violence against women in all of its manifestations. The UN Trust Fund is administered by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) on behalf of the United Nations System.

The UN Trust Fund is:

  • A mechanism for translating government commitments to end violence against women and girls into action.
  • The only multilateral grant-making entity supporting efforts to eradicate violence against women and girls in all its forms and contexts.
  • A hub of evidence-based knowledge on what works to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.
20 years of grant-making by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

Since its establishment, the UN Trust Fund has been an important source of support to women’s, grassroots and other civil society organizations, nurturing innovation, catalyzing change and mobilizing key actors and constituencies – from community to national and international levels. Through provision of grants, it contributes to raising awareness about the issue, advocates for development and implementation of laws grounded in human rights standards, promotes access to services and develops capacity of its grantees for continued progress. Grantees – comprising governments, non-governmental organizations, and since 2008, UN Country Teams – engage diverse actors, such as women’s, men’s, adolescents and youth groups, indigenous communities, religious and traditional leaders, human rights organizations and the media in action to stop violence against women and girls. To date, the UN Trust Fund has supported 393 initiatives in 136 countries and territories with almost USD 103 million.

In 2015, the UN Trust Fund awarded grants worth close to USD 13 million for the implementation in 2016 – 2018. It gave 33 grants to 30 civil society organizations and 3 governments covering 29 countries and territories.

The UN Trust Fund is currently funded 20 active programmes in 15 countries to address violence against women and girls in Asia and the Pacific, representing 26 per cent of its global portfolio as of August 2016.

Click here to learn more about the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

News and Updates

UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women awarded grants worth over USD 13 million to 36 organizations responded to the cycle 12th Call for Proposals

20 June 2017

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women is a multilateral grant-making mechanism working to fulfil the right of every woman and girl to live a life free of violence. Administered by UN Women on behalf of the UN system, the UN Trust Fund supports multi-year innovative and practical approaches that contribute to ending violence against women and girls in all its forms and in all contexts. Thirty-six new grants were awarded in the cycle 20th UN Trust Fund’s grant-making. These will... More

Stopping chhaupadi: a harmful traditional practice in Nepal

05 April 2017

As soon as Kapetha F. started menstruating, she was banished to the “chhaupadi”—an isolated shed outside her village—until she stopped bleeding. Alone in this shed, she was to have no contact with her family and denied nutritious food. Like other menstruating women and girls, Kapetha was prevented from bathing and accessing clean water sources...More

Mongolia: Preventing violence in schools

24 February 2017

Narantuya R., a teacher at Gun Galuutai School in Mongolia’s Baganuur district, was describing the impact of “Securing state investment in awareness raising on violence prevention in schools”, a project run by the Mongolian Women’s Fund (MONES) and supported...More

The Story Kitchen: hearing herstory

31 October 2016

Gita Paudel believed she would never see justice for the violence she endured during Nepal’s long and brutal internal conflict (1996-2006). During the conflict, an estimated 13,000 people were killed, a further 1,300 disappeared, and women and girls were routinely raped and subjected to other gender-based abuses. Despite this, in the subsequent peace-building process the voices and experiences of Nepal’s women were largely...More

Empowering Refugee Women and Girls

20 September 2016

“When my husband beat me, I came here,” said Bu Meh (alias), a Karenni mother of five from Myanmar. She was referring to a community-based multi-sectoral project that works to end violence against women and supports survivors in one of the many Karenni refugee camps dotted along the Thailand-Myanmar border...More

Counselling ‘silent’ men to stop beating their wives: A case study from Yogyakarta, Indonesia

08 August 2016

To understand why violence against women is so widespread in Yogyakarta, you have to understand the psychology of men in traditional Javanese culture. The culture accords men a privileged status and greater freedom of action relative to women. For example, men feel justified to leave their wives and family duties behind when it is time to hang out with their friends. But men also feel they must meet cultural norms and social expectations about what it is to be a...More

UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women launches its 20th global Call for Proposals

25 March 2016

The United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women is accepting applications for its 20 th grant cycle (2016) from civil society organizations and government authorities. Special attention will be paid to applications from women’s rights, women-led, and small organizations (including youth organizations) in recognition of the contribution these make to reaching women and girls at the grassroots level. This year, the UN Trust Fund is looking...More

Publications

UN Trust Fund Annual Report 2015

30 June 2016

In 2016, the UN Trust Fund celebrates its 20th anniversary. The UN Trust Fund enters its third decade of grant giving buoyed by a unique body of knowledge and experience through funding 426 projects in the past 20 years...More

UN Trust Fund Strategic Plan 2015-2020

30 September 2015

The Strategic Plan outlines the work of the next five years under three pillars: giving grants, collecting and collating evidence and results, and global advocacy to end violence against women...More