Swedish donation is significant boost to resources Trust Fund for Victims

Mon, 2011-12-19 17:34

Swedish donation is significant boost to resources Trust Fund for Victims

 
New York, 16 December 2012
 
 
The Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) has announced a voluntary contribution of 10 million Swedish crowns - approximately 1.1 million Euros - to the Trust Fund for Victims at the International Criminal Court.
The announcement was made by the Swedish Government at the occasion of the 10th annual meeting of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, which established both the Court and the Trust Fund.

 

 According to the statement of Sweden, “victims’ participation and right to reparations are unique and essential features of the Rome Statute. We encourage more States Parties to contribute to the Fund’s valuable work for victims of atrocities.”
 
Ms. Elisabeth Rehn, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims expressed her gratitude to the Swedish Government for the largest single contribution in the history of the Trust Fund. She stated that, “this generous contribution will help to rehabilitate thousands of victim survivors who have suffered terrible atrocities in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Uganda and the Central African Republic. This donation is also very timely given that we may be facing decisions on several cases at the ICC next year and the Trust Fund may be asked to assist the Court with implementing reparations.”
 
 Ms. Rehn also confirmed that, “SIDA has now established a precedent for other donors given that the contribution has been announced as multi-year funding and is not earmarked, thus allowing the Trust Fund to be flexible in their ability to deliver rehabilitation assistance and reparations to the most vulnerable victims under the jurisdiction of the ICC.”
 
 
 The Swedish donation constitutes the single largest donation to the Trust Fund to date. It comes without restrictions or earmarking and may therefore be used for both of the Trust Funds mandates: victims’ assistance in situations before the Court, and the implementation of Court-orders for reparation to victims in particular cases before the Court. So far, the Trust Fund has reached out to over 80,000 victims in northern Uganda and the DRC by providing physical and psycho-social rehabilitation services, as well as material support. The ICC’s first-ever award for reparations, which will trigger the Trust Fund implementation mandate, is anticipated to occur in 2012.
 
 
 
 
The website www.TrustFundforVictims.org provides information on the mandates and activities of the Trust Fund, including the following recently published documents:
 
Report of the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims to the 10th meeting of Assembly of States Parties (12 December 2012)
 
“Earmarked Support for the Trust Fund for Victims” – TFV Programme Progress Report, (Winter 2012)
 
“On the Reparations Mandate of the Trust Fund for Victims” (December 2012)
 
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