JUSTICE AND HEALING GO TOGETHER

VIP Mission to Northern Uganda

Trust Fund for Victims Board of Directors and President of the International Criminal Court

ICC President Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi with TFV Chair Motoo Noguchi, TFV Board member Mama Koite Doumbia and Pieter de Baan, TFV Executive Director, are welcomed by project beneficiaries during a visit in northern Uganda.

An unprecedented high level mission, consisting of the leadership of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), is visiting northern Uganda on 27 and 28 February. The VIP delegation consists of ICC President Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, joining at the invitation of TFV Chair Motoo Noguchi accompanied by TFV Board member Mama Koité Doumbia. 

The purpose of the mission is to be informed of the project activities of the Trust Fund for Victims and its local partners in northern Uganda under the TFV’s Assistance Mandate, which allows the TFV, a non-judiciary institution operating next to the ICC, to provide healing services to victims who have suffered harm from the most serious international crimes, regardless of the question who has been the perpetrator of these crimes. In northern Uganda, the Trust Fund for Victims has so far assisted over 45,000 direct victims and over 200,000 indirect beneficiaries (family and community members).  

The VIP delegation visited projects in Gulu and Awach, where the Trust Fund’s locally based implementing partners provide medical and psychological rehabilitation services to victims. 

From meetings with many different beneficiaries, as individuals or in groups, as well as with the TFV’s implementing partners, the delegation comes away with a very positive impression of the rehabilitation of victims as of result of participating in the projects. The delegation also came to realise the tremendous scale of long term mental and physical suffering from the LRA conflict that continues to affect individual victims, their families and communities. The Trust Fund for Victims is therefore continuing its support under the Assistance Mandate, seeking to strengthen its positive collaboration with national and local authorities to further increase the scale and impact of long-term assistance to victims of the LRA conflict in northern Uganda.

The Trust Fund for Victims is active in northern Uganda since 2008 in 18 districts, from Soroti in the East to Adjumani in the West, from the shores of lake Kyoga to the border of South Sudan. Over the years, the TFV has worked with more than 25 locally based partners. At present the TFV is implementing 9 projects with 8 partners. In and around Gulu, these are AVSI, GWED-G, TPO and CVT. To the East, they are NECPA, ADDA, AHS and CCVS.

More information about the TFV’s activities at www.trustfundforvictims.org, or write to trustfundforvictims@icc-cpi.int.