TFV

In a Declaration adopted on 11 April 2013, Ministers of the G8 countries, convening in London, emphasised the need to fund support for victims of sexual violence and “called on the international community, including the G8, to increase their efforts to mobilise such funding, including to programmes such as the ICC Trust Fund for Victims and its implementing partners”.

The Trust Fund strongly appreciates this high profile acknowledgement of the need to recognise the plight of victims of sexualised violence in armed conflict, both in terms of prosecuting the related crimes and ensuring that there is an appropriate response to the harm suffered.

Inspiring the G8 Declaration, the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PVSI) of the United Kingdom already in February 2013 supported the Trust Fund with half a million British pounds. The Trust Fund expresses its hope and expectation that other countries, including the G8, will follow suit in order to be able to comprehensively address the victimisation resulting from sexualised violence, within the framework of the Rome Statute.

To date, the Trust Fund has supported over 5,000 victims of sexual and gender based violence (SBGV) in northern Uganda and in eastern DRC. These include 200 girls abducted and/or conscripted and enslaved by armed groups in eastern DRC, as well as 780 children and women victimised by campaigns of mass rape and displaced from their communities in the Kivu provinces (DRC). The TFV is about to launch a new programme in the Central African Republic, focusing on victims of SGBV in armed conflict, as soon as the security situation allows.

The Trust Fund will welcome additional funding to ensure continuity of existing programmes and to expand its support to victims of SGBV to other ICC situation countries.

The Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) at the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to raise the Fund’s reparations reserve from 1.2 million to 1.8 million euros, maintaining the reserve at one third of the total resources currently available to the TFV.

 The TFV Board met in The Hague for its 10^th annual meeting during 19-21 March 2013. Under the chairmanship of Mr Motoo Noguchi, the Board consulted with the TFV Secretariat and deliberated on financial, operational and strategic issues.

 During the meeting, the TFV Board had occasion to exchange with the President of the Assembly of States Parties, the Heads of Organs of the ICC, as well as with representatives of civil society organisations.

 Chair of the Board Noguchi stated that the Trust Fund “is on the verge of entering a defining phase in its development as a key institution within the framework of the Rome Statute. We should continue to assert the Trust Fund as an innovative and effective institution that works to achieve reparative justice to victims. Our ambition is to further strengthen the Fund’s capacity to this purpose.”

 The TFV Board stresses the importance of a victims-centered approach in engaging with victims and affected communities within the jurisdiction of the ICC, in order to achieve a meaningful and appropriate response to the harm caused by serious international crimes.

The Board notes that contributions by States Parties continue to be on the rise. They are increasingly characterised by the desire of States Parties to develop longer-term, policy-based partnerships with the TFV.

 All voluntary contributions, modest and voluminous, are very much welcomed by the Trust Fund, as they represent a commitment to the cause of reparative justice for victims as enshrined in the Rome Statute system. The Board expresses the wish that in three years time, all States Parties will have come to the support of the Trust Fund to the best of their financial abilities.

 The TFV Board adopted a road map for the development of a Strategic Plan (2014-2017), which provides for a consultative approach to engage with victims and other stakeholders, including States Parties, the ICC, international and locally based civil society organisations, as well as international organisations.

 

 

 

The Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) at the International Criminal Court elected Mr Motoo Noguchi as its Chair, at the 10^th Annual Meeting of the Board in The Hague on March 19, 2013. Noguchi is amongst the five members of the Fund’s Board of Directors elected by the Assembly of States Parties in November 2012. He will serve as Chair of the TFV Board until November 2015. 

 Upon his election, Motoo Noguchi expressed his gratitude about the confidence expressed by his fellow Board members. “The Trust Fund for Victims is on the verge of entering a defining phase in its development. It is an honour to be called to the position of Chair and I see it as my duty to work with the Trust Fund Board and Secretariat, as well as with the ICC and States Parties, to ensure that victims and affected communities within the jurisdiction of the Court are recognised and will be effectively supported by the Trust Fund in order to regain their dignity and rebuild their lives.”

 Noguchi praised Ms Elisabeth Rehn, who held the position of Chair during the Board’s previous mandate (2010-2012), for her strong personal drive and unwavering dedication to the Trust Fund for Victims during the past three years, which have greatly helped to strengthen the Fund’s visibility and reputation.

 Justice Noguchi was in the Supreme Court Chamber at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) from the inception until July 2012. He is currently Director of the International Cooperation Department of Research & Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice, concurrently advising the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on international criminal justice. Since 1985 he has held various professional positions in Japan and abroad, including prosecutor, counsel to the Asian Development Bank, professor at UNAFEI, and visiting professor at the University of Tokyo.

 Attending the Board meeting were the President of the Assembly of States Parties, Ambassador Intelmann, as well as ICC Principals President Song, Prosecutor Bensouda and Registrar Arbia. They congratulated the Trust Fund Board and Motoo Noguchi personally on the election result, noting the interdependence of the ICC and TFV in the joint pursuit of achieving reparative justice for victims in the framework of the Rome Statute. They expressed the wish that the mutual cooperation between the institutions continues to develop in the same positive and constructive manner as before.

 The Trust Fund Board of Directors (2012-2015) is composed as follows:

• Sayeman Bula-Bula (Democratic Republic of the Congo, representing African States Parties)
• Motoo Noguchi, Chair (Japan, representing Asian States Parties)
• Elisabeth Rehn (Finland, representing Western European and Other Group States Parties)
• Denys Toscano Amores (Ecuador, representing Latin American and Caribbean States Parties)
• Vaira Vike-Freiberga (Latvia, representing Eastern European States Parties)

The Hague - At a reception following the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative G8 Expert Meeting in London on 12 February 2013, Foreign Secretary William Hague of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland announced a donation of half a million British Pounds to the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) for supporting victims of sexual violence under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It is the third year in a row that the UK is making such a significant donation.

In a written statement to Parliament, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said: “I can announce today that the UK will contribute an additional £500,000 to the International Criminal Court’s Trust Fund for Victims. We believe the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) is doing excellent work in supporting victims of sexual and gender based violence during conflict.”

The U.K. contribution signifies that assistance and reparations for victims of sexual violence are prioritized under U.K.’s multidisciplinary task force to support international and national jurisdictions in investigating and preventing sexual violence in armed conflict.

The Trust Fund for Victims’ Board of Directors welcomes Foreign Secretary Hague’s announcement and appreciates the donation to the TFV as reflecting the U.K.’s strong advocacy for the need of concerted international action and more resources in the fight against sexual violence in conflict under the United Kingdom’s Presidency of the G8.

Ms Kristin Kalla, Senior Programme Officer of the TFV was present at the event and stated that “the Trust Fund has made significant progress in supporting over 5000 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Uganda and believes the U.K.’s generous contribution will allow the Fund to expand their assistance to other situations such as the Central African Republic.”

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Background: The Trust Fund for Victims (TFV)

The Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) is the first of its kind in the global movement to end impunity and promote justice. At the end of one of the bloodiest centuries in human history, the international community made a commitment to end impunity, help prevent the gravest crimes known to humanity and bring justice to victims with the adoption of the Rome Statute. In 2002, the Rome Statute came into effect and the Assembly of States Parties established the TFV under article 79 of the Rome Statute, to benefit victims of crimes and their families within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). These crimes are genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes – and in the future, crimes of aggression.

The TFV addresses and responds to the physical, psychological, or material needs of the most vulnerable victims. It raises public awareness and mobilizes people, ideas and resources. It funds innovative projects through intermediaries to relieve the suffering of the often forgotten survivors. The TFV works closely with NGOs, community groups, women’s grassroots organisations, governments, and UN agencies at local, national, and international levels. By focusing on local ownership and leadership, the TFV empowers victims as main stakeholders in the process of rebuilding their lives.

With the unique roles of implementing both Court-ordered and general assistance to victims of crimes under the ICC’s jurisdiction, the Trust Fund for Victims offers key advantages for promoting lasting peace, reconciliation, and wellbeing in war-torn societies. The TFV fulfils two mandates for victims of crimes under jurisdiction of the ICC:

1. Reparations: implementing Court-ordered reparations awards against a convicted person when directed by the Court to do so.

2. General Assistance: using voluntary contributions from donors to provide victims and their families in situations where the Court is active with physical rehabilitation, material support, and/or psychological rehabilitation.

Currently, the TFV is providing a broad range of support under its second mandate in northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo – including access to reproductive health services, vocational training, trauma-based counselling, reconciliation workshops, reconstructive surgery and more – to an estimated 80,000 victims of crimes under the ICC's jurisdiction, including 5000 victims of sexual violence.  The TFV will soon begin projects in the Central African Republic and will focus on aiding victims of sexual violence and building systems to combat rape and other forms of gender-based violence. Most of the TFV’s projects have incorporated both gender-specific and child-specific interventions to support the special vulnerability of women and children.

There are currently eight situations before the ICC, in Northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Darfur, Central African Republic (CAR), Kenya, Libya, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali which means that, with your help, the TFV can assist thousands of victims who come under the jurisdiction of the Court.

A short video on the activities of the Trust Fund for Victims can be viewed at: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho_fEiZ3ark and for more information visit:

http://www.trustfundforvictims.org/homepage.

TFV Board of Directors

Prof. Sayeman Bula-Bula (Democratic Republic of the Congo, representing African States),

Mr Motoo Noguchi (Japan, representing the Asian States)

Dr Denys Toscano Amores (Ecuador, representing the Americas and Caribbean States),

Ms Elisabeth Rehn (Finland, representing Western European and Other States),
Her Excellency, Dr Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (Latvia, representing Eastern European States)

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For more information contact: Gaelle van der Meerendonk at +31 (0)70 515-8872 or by e-mail at: Gaelle.VanDerMeerendonk@icc-cpi.int

Source: Trust Fund for Victims