Emergency Victim Assistance Fund (EVA)

The Emergency Victim Assistance Fund (EVA) has been generously funded by the United States Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons since 2010 and provides life-saving support to victims of trafficking around the world. EVA funds urgent direct assistance exclusively to trafficking victims for a wide range of short to medium-term needs, including, but not limited to shelter, food, medical care, psychosocial support, legal assistance, travel assistance, and hygiene items. EVA funds can also contribute to survivors’ safety and sustainability as they integrate or reintegrate back into their communities.

Since its inception in 2010, EVA has been able to assist over 2,700 victims of trafficking in 81 countries of exploitation and 83 countries of origin. Eligibility is strictly limited to victims of any form of internal or transnational human trafficking. With EVA support, trafficking victims have completed educational and vocational programs, established businesses, reunited with family members, testified at criminal trials against their traffickers, and received court-ordered compensation from traffickers. All EVA assistance is tailored to the specialized needs of individual trafficking victims and takes a survivor-led, trauma-informed approach.

EVA is managed from IOM Washington DC and assistance to identified trafficking victims are approved by EVA management on a referral basis to emergencyfund@iom.int. EVA can be accessed when no other timely resources are available and as a complement to existing counter-trafficking programming. All cases are coordinated through IOM regional and country offices around the globe as well as in partnership with relevant local NGOs and civil society partners.