12%
Share of foundation
human rights funding
$287.9 Million out of
$2.4 Billion for all rights
3,325 Grants
Top Foundation Funders
- Comic Relief $39.1 M
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $32.0 M
- Foundation to Promote Open Society $25.5 M
- American Jewish World Service - Donor Advised Funds $15.2 M
- Ford Foundation $14.3 M
- National Endowment for Democracy $13.4 M
- Human Dignity Foundation $13.2 M
- W. K. Kellogg Foundation $10.1 M
- Segal Family Foundation $9.9 M
- Oak Foundation $9.8 M
- Cordaid $9.3 M
- Humanity United $8.4 M
- NoVo Foundation $8.2 M
- ViiV Healthcare $5.8 M
- The Sigrid Rausing Trust $5.4 M
- Tides Foundation $5.3 M
- Alliance for Open Society International $4.7 M
- Open Doors International $4.7 M
- Fund For Global Human Rights $4.6 M
- The UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women $4.3 M
- Nationale Postcode Loterij $4.1 M
- American Jewish World Service $4.0 M
- International Development Research Centre $3.8 M
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $3.6 M
- Charles Stewart Mott Foundation $2.9 M
- M = Millions
Bilateral and Multilateral Funding
31%
Share of OECD
human rights funding
$1.1 Billion out of
$3.7 Billion for all rights
4,647 Disbursements
Top Funders
- European Union Institutions $152.3 M
- Sweden $148.7 M
- United Kingdom $107.6 M
- Canada $95.7 M
- Norway $90.6 M
- United States $83.5 M
- Global Fund $83.1 M
- Denmark $51.3 M
- Germany $49.7 M
- Finland $38.0 M
- Switzerland $30.6 M
- Belgium $28.3 M
- Netherlands $26.2 M
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) $25.0 M
- Ireland $22.8 M
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) $19.9 M
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) $15.4 M
- Spain $12.7 M
- Japan $10.7 M
- Italy $8.2 M
- France $6.6 M
- Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) $5.5 M
- United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (UNPBF) $3.6 M
- International Labour Organisation $1.4 M
- Austria $1.4 M
- M = Millions
Foundation Funding by Issue
Health and Well-being Rights
$58,106,135 (20%)
406 Grants (12%)Freedom from Violence
$55,677,935 (19%)
497 Grants (15%)Environmental and Resource Rights
$20,510,459 (7%)
469 Grants (14%)Civic and Political Participation
$19,691,118 (7%)
236 Grants (7%)Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination
$19,675,620 (7%)
308 Grants (9%)Sexual and Reproductive Rights
$19,087,695 (7%)
285 Grants (9%)Economic and Labor Rights
$16,734,341 (6%)
164 Grants (5%)Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding
$15,429,259 (5%)
204 Grants (6%)Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law
$11,635,592 (4%)
100 Grants (3%)Human Rights, General
$11,590,532 (4%)
138 Grants (4%)Expression and Information Rights
$5,324,788 (2%)
114 Grants (3%)Migration and Displacement
$1,032,126 (0%)
20 Grants (1%)
Issue totals include foundation funding that could be identified as meant to address a specific issue. In order to provide unique totals and avoid double-counting, each foundation grant has been assigned to exactly one issue category within the human rights taxonomy.
Foundation Funding by Population
Women & Girls
$102,371,414 (36%)
1,477 Grants (44%)Children & Youth
$87,798,676 (30%)
1,002 Grants (30%)LGBTQI
$10,331,270 (4%)
220 Grants (7%)Indigenous Peoples
$10,235,458 (4%)
153 Grants (5%)People with Disabilities
$9,687,037 (3%)
252 Grants (8%)Migrants & Refugees
$6,164,938 (2%)
95 Grants (3%)Human Rights Defenders
$3,635,885 (1%)
87 Grants (3%)Sex Workers
$1,233,046 (0%)
52 Grants (2%)
Population totals include foundation funding that could be identified as meant to benefit a specific group. Grants may serve multiple populations and would therefore be counted in more than one category.
Foundation Funding by Strategy
Advocacy, Systems Reform and Implementation
$143,332,120 (50%)
1,589 Grants (48%)Capacity-building and Technical Assistance
$61,250,460 (21%)
751 Grants (23%)Coalition-building and Collaboration
$27,529,070 (10%)
483 Grants (15%)Research and Documentation
$25,304,997 (9%)
323 Grants (10%)Grassroots Organizing
$18,237,896 (6%)
192 Grants (6%)Media and Technology
$16,304,546 (6%)
282 Grants (8%)Litigation and Legal Aid
$9,609,624 (3%)
96 Grants (3%)Arts and Culture
$9,291,336 (3%)
144 Grants (4%)Scholarships and Travel
$539,549 (0%)
44 Grants (1%)Security and Resilience
$206,300 (0%)
8 Grants (0%)
Strategy totals include foundation funding that could be identified as supporting a specific strategy. Grants may employ multiple strategies and would therefore be counted in more than one category.
Sample Grants
-
The Nexus Fund
United Nations Institute for Training & Research (UNITAR) and the West Africa Network (Nigeria)
For Peacebuilding (WANEP) in Ghana to advance advocacy efforts, capacity-building, and early warning mechanisms to address mass atrocities. -
Fund For Global Human Rights
Parole et Action pour le Reveil des Consciences et l'Evolution des Mentalites (Burundi)
Founded to change attitudes and behaviors that hinder the creation of a peaceful society and sustainable development in Burundi, to audit its organizational finances.
384 Grants (12%)