Case studies

UN Trust Fund grantee Restless Development Nepal conducts a session on menstruation, menstrual hygiene and myths regarding the harmful traditional practice of chhaupadi. Photo: Ms. Rupa Joshi.

Since its creation, the UN Trust Fund has increased its donor portfolio from three to 25 donors, resulting in total grants rising from US$1 million in 1997 to US$13 million in new grants funded in 2016.

In 2023, the UN Trust Fund supported projects reached 15,353,322 people, including a minimum of 7,723,854 women and girls overall and 176,246 women and girls were empowered to exercise agency for change in their own lives—specifically, through accessing specialist support services, prevention initiatives, and as co-creators in the design and implementation of projects to end violence against women and girls, including efforts to improve effectiveness of legislation, policies, and national action plans.

The UN Trust Fund aims to reach women and girls from underserved communities who are often left furthest behind. Projects funded are reaching out to communities and individuals around the world, who are often at an increased risk of violence not only because of their gender, but also because of their ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability. By supporting grassroots level initiatives, last year the UN Trust Fund reached at least 6,697 women and girls with disabilities; 4,255 lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and girls; 31,090 Indigenous women and girls; and 9,005 refugee and internally displaced women and girls.

Case studies of UN Trust Fund-supported initiatives highlight examples from projects implemented in 179 countries and territories around the world. These represent a snapshot of the work of 120 currently supported projects, which can be found through the news section of this website. Examples below showcase a cross section of successes and results of UN Trust Fund’s grantees in local and national contexts:

• In Albania, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women experience high levels of violence. The Alliance against the Discrimination of LGBT in Albania conducted the first large-scale research into challenges faced by LBT women and the gaps in institutional responses. Read the full story.
• In Guatemala, the Women’s Justice Initiative is working with Mayan women and girls in 18 rural communities. WJI’s programme combines legal literacy courses with mobile legal outreach, and is the only organization taking action to prevent violence against women in these communities. Read the full story.
• In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a project run by the Free Yezidi Foundation, an independent, non-profit organization, supports the provision of services for the Yezidi community, including women survivors of violence. Read an interview with the organization’s Executive Director.
• In Nepal, Restless Development Nepal is working on a project to eliminate the harmful traditional practice of chhaupadi in four districts where it is prevalent. In the chhaupadi hut, menstruating women and girls are separated from their families, denied nutritious food, routinely exposed to the cold, and face a heightened risk of sexual violence and animal attacks. Read the full story.
• In Peru, Red Nacional de Promocion de la Mujer (National Network for the Promotion of Women) is implementing a programme focused on ending violence against older women. The programme is also encouraging an intergenerational exchange of experiences between older women and their daughters and granddaughters. Read the full story.
• In Serbia, a project run by MDRI-S, a non-profit organization that advocates for the rights of women with mental disabilities, has trained 60 service providers on how to address violence against women with mental disabilities in custodial institutions. Watch a video about the project here.
• In Tanzania, Equality for Growth is implementing “Give Payment, Not Abuse: Protecting Informal Women Traders in Dar es Salaam from Violence against Women project aims to ensure that women market traders can work without fear of violence and are properly protected by law. Read the full story.

Click here to see all UN Trust Fund case studies.