Letter to John Kerry, Secretary of State - Support for the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women

Letter

The Honorable John F. Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520

Dear Mr. Secretary:

As the State Department prepares its Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request, we write to urge you to include funding for the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

As you may know, the UN Trust Fund is the only global multi-donor voluntary fund providing grants to civil society and non-governmental organizations, government entities, and UN Country Teams to support innovative, targeted programs to combat violence against women and girls. These important programs are needed now more than ever as more than 1 in 3 women will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime.

Established in 1996, the UN Trust Fund has provided over 300 grants in 132 countries and territories for innovative approaches to combating violence against women. From Afghanistan to Bangladesh to Sudan, the UN Trust Fund works with grantees all over the world who are implementing imaginative new programs to change cultural norms, support and empower survivors, and ensure that institutions are responsive to issues of violence against women.

The United States previously recognized the important work that the UN Trust Fund supports and provided critical funding from 2005 to 2010. During this period, the U.S. contribution to the UN Trust Fund constituted as much as 20 percent of the grants made annually. Unfortunately, with average grants requests of $1 billion each year, the UN Trust Fund is currently able to meet only 1 percent of grant requests.

We believe that supporting mechanisms that work prevent and respond to gender-based violence, such as the UN Trust Fund, are a critical step in promoting international development, peace, and security. By reestablishing a U.S. commitment to the UN Trust Fund, the United States would greatly increase the UN Trust Fund's grant making capacity and thus increase the number of women it can assist.

At the recent Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London you stated, "We have to speak out loudly and clearly against one of the most persistent and neglected injustices imaginable. And we have to fight to hold the criminals accountability and end the age of impunity. Instead of shaming the survivors, we have to punish the perpetrators. And we must support the victims afterwards as they work to try to rebuild their lives." We strongly believe reestablishing U.S. support for the UN Trust Fund in in the State Department's Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request would help achieve this critical goal.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,