Snapshot 2021: Women and girls directly benefited from UN Trust Fund-supported projects
Date:
“I’ve reached a stage where I realized that [violence inflicted on me] wasn’t my fault. That is my biggest breakthrough.” – A woman survivor of violence supported by Sonke Gender Justice in South Africa
In 2021, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by other crises, put women and girls at increased risk of violence. Organizations funded by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) directly empowered 260,587 women and girls, and were at the forefront of meeting the needs of women and girl survivors of violence.
Efforts by these civil society and women’s rights organizations were captured by 21 common indicators, five of them focused on grantees’ adaptations to the impact of COVID-19. The civil society-led projects provided support services to survivors and those at risk of violence, including psychological counselling, medical care, shelters, helplines and legal aid.
UN Trust Fund grantees reached women and girls facing constant, multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence, including at least:
- 54,822 women and girl survivors of violence
- 22,455 women and girls living with disabilities
- 45,554 indigenous women or women from ethnic minorities
- 10,681 women human rights defenders or advocates for women’s rights
- 10,803 women living with HIV and/or affected by AIDS
- 86,511 women belonging to the lowest income group.
In addition, awareness raising activities reached more than 22.5 million women and girls.
In Peru, the feminist organization Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos (PROMSEX) led a media campaign #LaTrataEsReal (#TraffickingIsReal) that reached nearly 1.5 million people through online platforms alone. It also trained survivors and those most at risk of human trafficking on their rights, and 2,600 health service providers and 109 journalists on how to better handle cases relating to human trafficking.
In Haiti, the development organization Initiative pour un développement équitable en Haiti (IDEH) quickly activated an emergency fund to distribute food packages and sanitary hygiene kits to 150 survivors of violence living with disabilities after a fire destroyed their temporary camp and an earthquake caused widespread devastation. The initiative, which was supported by the UN Trust Fund, also organized self-care activities for staff who were deeply affected by the multiple crises. Esther Randiche, Executive Director of IDEH, said the emergency fund had allowed them to provide a safety net for survivors and ensured the organization could survive such difficult times.
You can read the UN Trust Fund's Annual Report 2021 here.