United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery 2025

Types of Grants

• Direct Assistance Grants: Direct assistance grants are awarded to projects providing legal, psychological, medical, educational, humanitarian, or other types of direct support to victims of contemporary forms of slavery.
• Emergency Grants: On an exceptional basis and subject to funding availability, the Board may decide to activate the emergency grants mechanism for projects that provide direct assistance to slavery survivors.
• Special Calls: On an exceptional basis and subject to the availability of funding, the Board may issue thematic or geographic special calls for applications to organizations:
  • delivering direct assistance to victims of contemporary forms of slavery underrepresented in the current grants portfolio of the Fund (thematic); or
  • providing such assistance in countries underrepresented in the current grants portfolio of the Fund (geographic).

Funding Information

• Organizations can request yearly grants ranging from US$ 15,000 to US$ 35,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Only applications by civil society organizations and other channels of assistance are admissible. Applications by governmental, parliamentary or administrative entities, political parties or national liberation movements are inadmissible.
• Organizations applying to the Fund must have been registered and actively engaged in projects related to contemporary forms of slavery for at least two years prior to project implementation. Projects aimed at establishing a new organization are inadmissible.
• Applications for projects concerning investigations, studies, research, and publication of newsletters or similar activities are inadmissible.
• Projects should aim at reparation, empowerment and integration of victims of contemporary forms of slavery through the provision of direct assistance. Assistance may include medical, psychological, social, legal, humanitarian, educational support, vocational or skills training, or other support to their independent livelihood. Organizations that cannot provide all aspects of assistance may arrange to refer victims of contemporary forms of slavery to other organizations for appropriate support.
• To address the root causes of exploitation and reduce vulnerability, organizations should, whenever possible, facilitate the economic independence of slavery survivors, including through referrals to specialized services. Proposals involving income-generating activities must ensure that beneficiaries are fairly compensated for their participation and include appropriate safeguards to prevent any risk of reexploitation.
• Projects should consider the victims’ need for inclusion into society and their rights to dignity, security and education.
• Project grants cannot serve the purpose of direct financial compensation to victims.

For more information, visit OHCHR.