EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) has been instrumental in advancing the right and safety of women and girls globally – through the tireless and life-saving efforts of our 191 grantee partners. This report highlights the transformative work of our grantee partners, civil society and women’s rights organizations (CSO/WRO), who are at the forefront of preventing and ending violence against women and girls worldwide.
The UN Trust Fund is uniquely positioned as an interagency UN grant-making mechanism, with the ability to build connections across civil society and feminist movements on a global scale. Through its global support to civil society and women’s rights organization to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, the UN Trust Fund brings together a worldwide ecosystem of partners, developing a powerful and coordinated movement to drive transformative change in the lives of women and girls. Since 1996, the UN Trust Fund has been dedicated exclusively to ending this grave human rights violation, supporting US$225 million to 670 initiatives in 140 countries and territories.
In 2023, with a grantee portfolio exceeding US$92 million, our 191 grantee partners implemented initiatives that have led to significant impacts across prevention, services provision and legal reform – the three key themes of the UN Trust Fund Strategic Plan 2021-2025.
Our grantee partners reached more than 7.7 million women and girls and had a broader impact on over 15 million individuals. In addition, more than 71,000 women and girl survivors of violence were empowered to act to create transformational change in their own lives. The significant results across the portfolio highlight life-changing results in the lives of women and girls. In 2023:
- At least 1.4 million women and girls accessed information or resources to prevent violence.
- At least 48,000 women and girls utilized specialist support services for survivors or those at risk of violence.
- At least 12,500 women and girls accessed justice in cases of violence.
Despite significant challenges, efforts to end violence against women and girls persisted throughout the year. The escalation of global crises, including climate emergencies, violent conflicts, and economic shocks, has increased the vulnerability of women and girls to violence, with more than 70 per cent of those in crisis settings experiencing gender-based violence.
In response to these dire circumstances, the UN Trust Fund prioritized support for organizations working in protracted crises, with 34 per cent of its US$11.1 million in grants in 2023 to grantee partners in crisis settings. Overall, the UN Trust Fund awarded 24 new grants in 2023. This support is critical for CSOs and WROs in crisis settings, which comprised 55 per cent of the Trust Fund’s portfolio in 2023, enabling them to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. For these grantee partners, the ability to remain flexible and adapt to changing contexts is crucial. This flexibility is made possible by the support from the UN Trust Fund. For example, amidst heightened hostilities in the West Bank and Gaza, the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) and the Stars of Hope Society (SHS) swiftly adapted their programmatic initiatives to meet the needs of women and girls. WCLAC enhanced its social media campaigns and legal aid for women survivors of violence, while SHS focused on emergency support for women living with disabilities, distributing essential supplies and assistive devices.
Overall, the UN Trust Fund’s commitment to long-term, flexible funding empowers our grantee partners to confront the multifaceted impacts of crises. Recognizing the growing need for long-term funding, the Trust Fund extended its grant period from three to four years (starting in the 2023 Call for Proposals for grants awarded in 2024) allowing for a longer time frame to implement life-changing prevention and response interventions.
Beyond conflict and crisis, in 2023, the world experienced, and UN Trust Fund grantee partners also reported, an alarming increase in opposition to women’s rights and a backlash against feminist movements, eroding hard-won progress and giving rise to new threats – including technology-facilitated gender-based violence. The CSOs and WROs supported by the UN Trust Fund are leading the charge in resisting the backlash on women’s rights and new forms of emerging violence.
For example, despite efforts by anti-women’s rights activists to disrupt progress, Alliances for Africa, a grantee partner, achieved significant milestones in Nigeria’s Imo state, advancing the implementation of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act and improved the knowledge of all 27 lawmakers of the Imo State House of Assembly. These efforts are crucial for addressing violence against women and girls.
The UN Trust Fund provides comprehensive support through a wraparound service model, offering tailored resources and enhancing capacity, knowledge, and resilience of grantee partners. This model enables organizations to adapt, mobilize additional funding, and connect with broader movements. In 2023, 75 per cent of grantee partners reported positive shifts in organizational adaptability, and 74 per cent mobilized additional funding – upwards of US$ 18 million for additional support to initiatives against violence.
The UN Trust Fund draws on the knowledge and experiences of its grantee partners and shares this practice-based insight with other key players in the ending violence against women ecosystem. In 2023, it published 10 knowledge products created in partnership with our grantee partners, amplifying their thought- and practice based- leadership. This invaluable learning—including on initiatives aiming to support women and girls living with disabilities and those who are refugees or internally displaced—highlight key practices of what works to reach those most at risk of being left behind. These resources are actively informing the work of UN Trust Fund grantees, with 94 per cent of respondents reporting that the knowledge products informed their work.
Throughout this report, we celebrate the remarkable achievements of our grantee partners who support a world whereby women and girls live a life free from violence, across feminist movements on a global scale, the UN Trust Fund brings together a worldwide ecosystem of knowledge, funds, resources and mutual support, developing a powerful and coordinated movement to drive transformative change.
