The Victims and Survivors Unit works to raise awareness of, and co-ordinate activity on, issues affecting victims and survivors of our troubled past across the devolved administration and throughout Northern Ireland in general.
Our aim
To ensure that the rights and needs of victims and survivors are given a high priority.
The unit has oversight responsibility for the Commission for Victims and Survivors and the Victims and Survivors Service.
Commission for Victims and Survivors
The Commission for Victims and Survivors was established to address the needs of all victims and survivors by ensuring excellent service provision, acknowledging the legacy of the past and building for a better future. The principal aim of the Commission is to promote the interests of victims and survivors. The Commission is responsible for providing advice to Government on matters affecting victims and survivors.
The Commission is accountable to the Executive Office in terms of its procedures, activities, and financial responsibilities.
For more information please visit the Commission for Victims and Survivors website.
Recruitment for Victims and Survivors Board Members 2021/22
The First Minister and deputy First Minister have launched a public appointment competition for five new Board Members for the Victims and Survivors Service (VSS)
For more detailed information and how to apply, please go to: www.nicsrecruitment.org.uk
Alternatively, an application pack can be requested by contacting:
HRConnect, PO Box 1089,Beacon House,
27 Clarendon Road,
Belfast, BT1 9EX.
Telephone: 0800 1 300 330.
Email: recruitment@hrconnect.nigov.net
Website: www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/public-appointment-vacancies
Victims and Survivors 2021
The First Minister and deputy First Minister have launched a public appointment competition for a new Commissioner for Victims and Survivors.
For more detailed information and how to apply, please go to: www.nicsrecruitment.org.uk
Alternatively, an application pack can be requested by contacting:
HRConnect, PO Box 1089,Beacon House,
27 Clarendon Road,
Belfast, BT1 9EX.
Telephone: 0800 1 300 330.
Email: recruitment@hrconnect.nigov.net
Website: www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/public-appointment-vacancies
Victims and Survivors Service
The Victims and Survivors Service (VSS) is the delivery body for the Strategy for Victims and Survivors (2009).The VSS was established to consolidate the provision of support and funding for victims and survivors. The aim of the VSS is to coordinate service delivery and funding to meet the needs of individual victims and survivors, ensuring that these services are provided at the appropriate standard. VSS delivers funding to individuals and organisations through two main programmes – the Individual Needs Programme (INP) and the Victims Support Programme (VSP).
The VSS is accountable to the Executive Office in terms of its procedures, activities, and financial responsibilities.
For more information please visit the Victims and Survivors Service website.
Collaborative Design Programme
A Collaborative Design Programme was set up in 2014 to develop an improved victim-centred service delivery model to better meet the needs of all victims and survivors. The programme is led by the Executive Office together with the Victims and Survivors Service (VSS) and the Commission for Victims and Survivors (CVS).
A new model for delivery of services to Victims and Survivors, based on the Commission for Victims and Survivors ‘Victims and Survivors Delivery Model for 2017-2020 Policy Advice Paper’, came into effect from 3 April 2017. The new model, which has been designed to sit alongside and complement Peace IV funding and the Regional Trauma Network covers, has been extended to April 2022 and ensures that support provided is victim-centred, simple to access and tailored to need.
The key objective for the collaborative design programme is the development of any new Strategy for Victims and Survivors Post 2019 in collaboration and partnership with key stakeholders.