Twenty-four groups receive grants to end violence against women      

United Nations Trust Fund grants awarded to initiatives in 30 countries

[DEC. 29, 2005]  UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. -- The United Nations Trust Fund to Eliminate Violence Against Women will grant $1.8 million to 24 groups that are working in developing countries to end gender-based violence in their communities. The announcement was made on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which falls on Nov. 25 each year.

The trust fund is a unique multilateral mechanism established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1996 and administered by the United Nations Development Fund for Women. Grants are awarded by a committee comprised of representatives of U.N. agencies and international nongovernmental organizations. Grants this year went to initiatives that focused on ensuring that national policies and laws to end violence against women were being implemented.

Since its establishment, the trust fund has granted more than $10 million to 198 initiatives in 100 countries. Demand continues to outstrip supply. In 2005, the United Nations Development Fund for Women received 1,059 proposals, amounting to tens of millions of dollars in requests, but had only $1.8 million to give out. The latter does represent an 80 per cent increase from the previous year, however, with contributions coming from a diverse group of governments, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector and individuals.

Among the governments giving for the first time is the United States. It joins a government roster that includes Finland, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, Iceland, and Denmark, which supported the trust fund in 2004.

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[Provided by the Good News Agency]

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