17%
Share of foundation
human rights funding
$411.7 Million out of
$2.4 Billion for all rights
1,367 Grants
Top Foundation Funders
- Nationale Postcode Loterij $146.1 M
- The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation $35.4 M
- Oak Foundation $30.2 M
- Ford Foundation $30.2 M
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $19.7 M
- NoVo Foundation $12.6 M
- American Jewish World Service - Donor Advised Funds $10.3 M
- Tides Foundation $10.0 M
- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $8.8 M
- Foundation to Promote Open Society $8.5 M
- The Sigrid Rausing Trust $7.7 M
- Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program $5.8 M
- National Endowment for Democracy $5.5 M
- Howard G. Buffett Foundation $5.0 M
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $4.7 M
- Human Dignity Foundation $4.6 M
- Humanity United $4.5 M
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation $4.1 M
- King Baudouin Foundation United States $4.0 M
- Margaret A. Cargill Foundation $3.7 M
- The Skoll Foundation $3.5 M
- Foundation for a Just Society $3.2 M
- The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation $2.9 M
- The Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for Human Progress $2.1 M
- Moriah Fund $2.1 M
- M = Millions
Bilateral and Multilateral Funding
24%
Share of OECD
human rights funding
$875.8 Million out of
$3.7 Billion for all rights
1,404 Disbursements
Top Funders
- Italy $230.9 M
- Sweden $126.2 M
- Norway $68.6 M
- United States $67.1 M
- Netherlands $62.7 M
- United Kingdom $61.3 M
- Switzerland $33.7 M
- Finland $31.9 M
- Denmark $29.5 M
- Germany $22.9 M
- European Union Institutions $22.0 M
- International Labour Organisation $21.2 M
- Australia $20.1 M
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) $13.7 M
- Japan $10.9 M
- Belgium $10.7 M
- France $10.3 M
- Spain $7.7 M
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) $7.3 M
- Greece $3.5 M
- Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) $2.8 M
- Ireland $2.7 M
- World Health Organization (WHO) $1.9 M
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) $1.3 M
- Iceland $1.1 M
- M = Millions
Foundation Funding by Issue
Human Rights, General
$74,747,818 (18%)
263 Grants (19%)Freedom from Violence
$55,785,972 (14%)
208 Grants (15%)Sexual and Reproductive Rights
$48,606,177 (12%)
82 Grants (6%)Environmental and Resource Rights
$48,529,663 (12%)
132 Grants (10%)Health and Well-being Rights
$35,044,749 (9%)
90 Grants (7%)Migration and Displacement
$30,771,305 (7%)
78 Grants (6%)Civic and Political Participation
$23,921,672 (6%)
61 Grants (4%)Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination
$22,898,416 (6%)
146 Grants (11%)Expression and Information Rights
$18,788,446 (5%)
91 Grants (7%)Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding
$12,323,799 (3%)
66 Grants (5%)Economic and Labor Rights
$9,857,247 (2%)
40 Grants (3%)Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law
$5,976,078 (1%)
40 Grants (3%)
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
$98,014,313 (24%)
331 Grants (24%)Children & Youth
$50,014,370 (12%)
188 Grants (14%)Migrants & Refugees
$45,560,347 (11%)
149 Grants (11%)Indigenous Peoples
$12,365,797 (3%)
69 Grants (5%)LGBTQI
$7,916,204 (2%)
57 Grants (4%)People with Disabilities
$2,471,626 (1%)
18 Grants (1%)Human Rights Defenders
$2,057,167 (0%)
16 Grants (1%)Sex Workers
$213,500 (0%)
3 Grants (0%)
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
$94,552,790 (23%)
486 Grants (36%)Capacity-building and Technical Assistance
$38,457,075 (9%)
154 Grants (11%)Coalition-building and Collaboration
$34,564,132 (8%)
166 Grants (12%)Media and Technology
$33,879,239 (8%)
163 Grants (12%)Research and Documentation
$30,981,590 (8%)
107 Grants (8%)Arts and Culture
$13,862,864 (3%)
65 Grants (5%)Litigation and Legal Aid
$13,476,688 (3%)
44 Grants (3%)Grassroots Organizing
$10,973,739 (3%)
52 Grants (4%)Security and Resilience
$1,403,500 (0%)
5 Grants (0%)Scholarships and Travel
$529,940 (0%)
9 Grants (1%)
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
-
King Baudouin Foundation
Swiss Philanthropy Foundation (Switzerland)
To address the root causes of environmental degradation and social inequalities caused by financial systems. -
Margaret A. Cargill Foundation
Oxfam America (United States)
To build resilience and capacities for disaster risk reduction in vulnerable communities in Latin America and the Pacific Islands.
Related Resources
Bilateral and multilateral funding includes disbursements not directed toward a specific country or region (designated in the OECD data set as “Bilateral, unspecified”). This includes disbursements providing a global benefit or used to cover the donor’s administrative costs.
70 Grants (5%)