-
United Nations Voluntary Fund on Contemporary
Forms of Slavery
The fund was established by the General Assembly in
1991 (RES. 46/122) with the purpose of assisting
non-governmental organizations dealing with contemporary forms of
slavery to participate in the deliberations of the Working Group on
Contemporary Forms of Slavery and to provide, through established
channels of assistance, humanitarian, legal and financial aid to
individuals who are victims of such violations. The Fund is
administered through a Board of Trustees of five members.
At its 12th session, in February 2007, the Board of
Trustees made recommendations for 33 project grants totaling
approximately US$269,200 and 4 provisional travel grants for
approximately US$9,500, to be disbursed in 2007. Taking into
consideration the requests received in 2007 and that the Board
recommended for expenditure almost all money available at its 12th
session, in the Board's view, in order to be able to fulfill its
mandate satisfactorily, the Fund would need an amount of US$793,500
before its 13th session scheduled to take place from 4-8 February
2006.
The Secretary-General reports annually to the General
Assembly and the Human Rights Council on the activities of the Fund
and of its Board of Trustees.
The latest reports by the Secretary-General were those
to the General Assembly (A/61/751) and to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/4/76 and add.1).
The Fund is administered in accordance with the
Financial Regulations and Rules of the United Nations by the
Secretary-General, with the advice of a Board of Trustees. The
mandate of the Board is to advise the Secretary-General on the use
of funds, through the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights.
The Board is composed of five persons with relevant experience in
the field of human rights, and contemporary forms of slavery in
particular, serving in their personal capacity. The members of the
Board are appointed by the Secretary-General, in consultation with
the current Chairman of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights, with due regard to equitable
geographical distribution, for three-year, once renewable terms.
The current five members of the Board are Ms. Prateep Unsongtham
Hata (Thailand), Mr. Cheikh Saad-Bouh Kamara (Chairman, Mauritania),
Mr. José de Souza Martins (Brazil), Ms. Gulnara Shahinian (Armenia)
and Mr. David Weissbrodt (USA). |
| 
| 
