HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS APPROVES $8 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR TORTURE SURVIVORS

22 June 2001






United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson has approved, on behalf of the Secretary-General, grants amounting to $8 million to organizations supporting survivors of torture. The amount represents an increase of $1 million in comparison with the year 2000.

The Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture recommended these grants at its twentieth session, held in Geneva from 18 May to 1 June 2001. The Board recommended that the whole amount of money available at its twentieth session be allocated to new grants.

Today’s announcement comes just days before the annual United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June. The Board of Trustees has adopted a Joint Declaration, along with the Committee against Torture, the Special Rapporteur on torture and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to mark the day. The statement will be distributed on 26 June 2001

Grants were allocated to some 200 organizations providing medical, psychological, social, economic, legal, humanitarian or other assistance to victims of torture and members of their families from all over the world. The Board also recommended a few grants to organise training for health professionals and other professionals providing assistance to victims of torture. The Board also recommended maintaining an amount for emergency assistance to individual victims of torture or to programmes already financed by the Fund that could encounter financial difficulties.

For the year 2001, the Board has received requests for grants amounting to more than 11 million, which represents an increase of $1 million in comparison with 2000. The Board has expressed concern over the implications of the continuing rise in the number of requests for financial assistance. The Board has also expressed its gratitude to about 40 regular donor Governments for having given larger voluntary contributions in time for allocation at its twentieth session.

It was estimated that new applications for grants for the year 2002, which should be submitted to the secretariat of the Fund by 31 December 2001, would amount to at least $12 million. New voluntary contributions are therefore needed and should be paid before 1 March 2002 in order to be officially recorded by the United Nations Treasurer well in advance of the twenty-firstsession of the Board of Trustees in May 2002.

Detailed information will be available in the Secretary-General’s annual report on the Fund to the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session (last Reports were A/55/178 and E/CN.4/2001/59 and Corr.1 and Add.1). The Fund was established by the General Assembly in 1981. The Board is an advisory body to the Secretary-General.

For more information, please contact the Fund’s secretariat at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Trust Funds Unit, telephone (41.22) 917.93.15, fax (41.22) 917.90.17, e-mail: dpremont.hchr@ unog.ch, website: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/9/ vftortur.htm





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