[WiLT] Refugee and Asylum Seeking Women - Comic Relief - 24th July 2009

[WiL Admin]

Refugee and Asylum Seeking Women

1. Background According to the UN, refugee and asylum seeking women are more
likely to be affected by violence than any other group of women

As a result they are often forced to flee their homes and seek sanctuary
elsewhere in the world.
Comic Relief has a long commitment to supporting refugees and asylum seekers and
over the last four years, we have paid special attention to the needs of women
who have experienced rape, torture and other forms of violence in their home
countries.

For those who arrive here in the UK, even with the source of persecution behind
them, many women are often too frightened or ashamed to tell their stories.
Without the support to disclose their traumatic experiences, they are not able
to present the full stories behind their claims for asylum, and as a result many
women are denied the right to stay. They can then end up living in poverty,
becoming destitute and feeling so desperate they are exploited again in the UK
or returned to dangerous situations in their home countries.

2. Aim of the Programme This programme aims to provide support for refugee and
asylum seeking women who have experienced rape, torture and other forms of
violence in their home countries and meets one or more of the outcomes listed
below. We are especially keen to make sure that women get the help they need in
making their claims for asylum, and also get access to emotional and practical
services they need to help rebuild their lives.

There are two strands to the open programme:

Direct support to women
We will fund support services with the aim of helping women cope better with the
trauma they have experienced. This could include services such as counselling,
group work or self help support. We will also fund services that help women
access legal support, health care and housing for example.

Training
We are also interested in supporting organisations to develop training for
people working both in refugee and mainstream organisations to increase their
skills, knowledge and practice in working with this vulnerable group. We hope
that some of this work may be accredited and will have the potential to be
adopted more widely by other organisations.

3. Outcomes The organisations we fund will need to show how their work will help
deliver one or more of the following outcomes:

Refugee and asylum seeking women will feel more able to cope with the trauma
they have experienced

Women will get the specialist support they need to make successful applications
for asylum around rape, violence and torture

Organisations will have increased knowledge of the needs of vulnerable refugee
and asylum seeking women and be able to meet their needs more effectively

4. Who will we fund? We welcome applications from a range of agencies who can
reach this vulnerable group of women. We will give priority to organisations
with a strong track record of working with this group or who can demonstrate a
broad understanding of services that are needed.

We will generally fund work targeting women aged 18 and over, but may consider
work with younger women so long as it does not replace services that would be
considered a statutory responsibility.

5. Other Important Information If you would like to talk to us about whether
your work meets our criteria, please ring us.


Apply for a UK Grant

What we look for in applications We have developed a set of grant making
principles to help guide our decision making. When we come to consider your
application, in detail, we will look at the extent to which you work within
these principles, and so we recommend you download and read these before you
complete an application.

Decision-making timetable The deadlines for the first three grant making cycles
are:

Cycle 1 - 24 July 2009
Cycle 2 - 13 November 2009
Cycle 3 - 5 March 2010

We are usually able to let you know the outcome of your application within four
months of the cycle deadline to which you applied.

The deadlines for subsequent cycles will be posted on our website in the
beginning of 2010.

Monitoring and evaluation Our involvement doesn't end with awarding a grant. We
need regular reports on your work and will want to see evidence that you are
monitoring and evaluating your progress. From the start of your grant, we will
help you set clear targets on how to deliver against your outcomes, and you will
need to send us regular progress reports. We may also visit you during the life
of your grant and may ask you to work with our media and communication teams to
help us show the impact of our funding to other organisations, funders and the
public.

Download
* the Grant Making Principles
* an application form
from http://www.comicrelief.com/apply_for_a_grant/uk/how_to_apply

Further InformationPlease contact us if you have any other queries about the
application process:

UK Grants Team
Comic Relief
5th Floor
89 Albert Embankment
London
SE1 7TP

Phone: 020 7820 5555
E-mail: ukgrants at comicrelief.com