Human Rights

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In 1948, the United Nations declared that all humans deserve dignity, equality and freedom, and that there are fundamental rights that should be protected for all people everywhere in the world. These universal human rights include the right to education, the right to freedom of expression, the right to seek asylum, social and cultural rights to healthcare, housing and the arts, freedom from discrimination, and more. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has now guided international law and societies for generations. And yet, all over the world, including in the United States, human rights still must be fought for, protected, and secured. Philanthropy is playing a growing role in this fight. 

Giving for human rights has been increasing in recent years. The Human Rights Funders Network and Candid reported a 242% increase in global human rights philanthropy over the 10 years from 2009 to 2019. Still, their collaborative research found that as of 2019, only 2% to 8% of total foundation funding was dedicated to human rights work. From legal aid to grassroots movements, there are many opportunities for donors to support and protect human rights around the world.  

Strategies for Impact

Nonprofits and NGOs are engaged in a range of efforts relating to global human rights. Below, we discuss several areas where donors might focus their funding and spotlight several organizations in each that represent the kind of groups that donors might consider supporting.    

  • Give globally to established organizations working on multiple fronts. Funders who care broadly about human rights can give to a range of established organizations working to advance and protect human rights around the world. Many of these groups work in multiple countries and regions, and address intersecting issues and human rights concerns, so giving to them is a way to support and uplift human rights broadly. Some groups donors may want to look into include Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, American Jewish World Service, PEN and International Justice Mission.  

  • Support grassroots movements. The larger international organizations do not always take their cues from people closest to front-line, local movements. But grassroots leaders often have the best sense of which rights need to be defended and uplifted in their own communities, as well as a clearer view of solutions that will work in their local context. Funders can support grassroots human rights defenders and movements globally or in particular regions by giving through intermediaries that have relationships with grassroots groups and grantmaking strategies to support them effectively. Donors can support grassroots human rights groups through intermediaries such as the Fund for Global Human Rights, which gives long-term, flexible support to grassroots human rights activists around the world; Mama Cash, which supports grassroots women’s, girls', trans and intersex people’s human rights organizations worldwide; and Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, a public foundation that supports groups working for LGBTQI rights around the world.  

  • Focus on women and girls. There are countless opportunities for donors to support the rights of women and girls around the globe, but one topic in particular is showing a great deal of progress: ending child marriage. Early marriage often denies girls their rights to health, education and safety. Those who marry young are much more likely to drop out of school early and have children early. They typically experience higher levels of violence from their partners. And in the end, their families, communities and civil society as a whole lose out on the full potential they represent — a dollar figure the World Bank puts at $500 billion a year. “Child marriage is a significant barrier to girls’ access to quality education,” said Dr. Faith Mwangi-Powell, CEO of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, an organization that provides donors with paths to support this work. The Girls First Fund was established in 2018 in the face of a dearth of general funding. It has attracted partners that include the Ford Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, but individual donors can also contribute to this group. 

  • Consider the growing labor rights movement. “For billions of working people around the world, the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining are eroding, are under threat, or are absent,” said Sarita Gupta, vice president of U.S. programs at the Ford Foundation. “These rights are especially key to eradicating gender-based violence and harassment in workplaces worldwide.” FORGE (Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy) seeks to create a global economy that works for everyone and can provide donor information on giving opportunities in this area. Workers’ rights are also directly related to healthy and functioning democracies. “For many people around the world, our first real experience with what democracy means is at work,” said Shauna Bader-Blau, executive director of the Solidarity Center, which advances workers rights around the world. 

Insights and Advice 

In considering which impact strategies to support, donors should take into account their personal interests and outlook to find the best fit. Keep an eye out for emerging opportunities to give with maximum impact. Here are a few insights and suggestions:

  • Don’t go it alone. U.S.-based affiliates and intermediaries can make it much easier for U.S. donors to give globally. Groups such as the Fund for Global Human Rights, Mama Cash, the Global Fund for Women and Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice have already built relationships and developed strategic plans to seamlessly regrant your donations to support human rights activists and organizations worldwide. Donors might also look into the UN Foundation, or, if you are a particularly large donor, funder collaboratives such as Co-Impact. The Human Rights Funders Network helps funders collaborate and give more effectively to support human rights. 

  • Fill gaps and address funding disparities. Candid and Human Rights Funders Network found that while philanthropy for human rights is increasing overall, it is not distributed evenly throughout the world. Regional funding disparities persist. For example, funding to sub-Saharan Africa has declined or stagnated in recent years, even while funding to other regions has increased. Donors can choose to address funding disparities by giving to underfunded regions or communities, such as LGBTQ communities, which received less than 35 cents out of every $100 of global foundation funding in 2019–2020, the Global Philanthropy Project reported. 

  • Examine intersecting systems of oppression and focus on equity. Given the intersecting systems of oppression related to gender, sexuality, migration status, religious affiliation and other identities, there are good reasons to fund organizations that take an intersectional approach and holistically address human rights, supporting multiple communities as well as multi-issue movements. This is the approach of regrantors such as the Fund for Global Human Rights. At the same time, there remains a pressing need for dedicated support for communities that are especially vulnerable to human rights abuses, including women and girls, children and youth, Indigenous people, disabled people and LGBTIQ+ people. Mama Cash and Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice can regrant donors’ contributions to support multi-issue movements advancing the human rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people around the world. Outright International is working globally to advance LGBTQ rights, while HRAPF promotes human rights of the most marginalized groups in Uganda. Purposeful is based in Sierra Leone and supports girls’ activism globally. The new Disability Frontlines Fund is a pooled fund supporting BIPOC leaders advancing disability justice. 

  • Give multi-year, unrestricted support. HRFN and Candid found that human rights groups based in North America were much more likely to receive unrestricted support than groups in the Global South and East, which receive more restricted funding. Donors can play a role in decolonizing philanthropy by giving multi-year, unrestricted support to human rights organizations around the world, giving them the sustained funding and flexibility they need to make long-term plans and to respond to emergent crises and opportunities.  

For Donors Getting Started

Donors who are new to this space should take the time to learn about the landscape. A good place to start is by reading recent articles that IP has published about what’s happening in this area of philanthropy.

You might also look at related State of American Philanthropy reports, such as Giving for Global Health, Giving for Global Humanitarian Assistance and Giving for Global Development. 

There are ample opportunities to learn from donor affinity groups such as Human Rights Funders Network  and International Funders for Indigenous People. Some of these groups organize peer learning opportunities and publish reports and articles to help donors understand the issues and the giving landscape, such as the Advancing Human Rights report created by Human Rights Funders Network and Candid.

But the best way to get started giving for global human rights is to make some initial gifts, learn from the groups you’re supporting, and connect early with a funding intermediary that can help you learn more about this giving area and increase your giving in a thoughtful way.

Have suggestions for improving this brief? Please email us at editor@insidephilanthropy.com.