12%
Share of foundation
human rights funding
$461.6 Million out of
$3.7 Billion for all rights
1,602 Grants
Top Foundation Funders
- Foundation to Promote Open Society $57.5 M
- Oak Foundation $50.0 M
- Google Foundation $45.2 M
- Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation $40.7 M
- Ford Foundation $38.6 M
- Wellspring Philanthropic Fund $38.2 M
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $34.8 M
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation $30.3 M
- NoVo Foundation $22.3 M
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $21.0 M
- William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $14.3 M
- Freedom House $8.5 M
- Sigrid Rausing Trust $7.2 M
- Foundation for a Just Society $6.7 M
- Mulago Foundation $5.4 M
- Wallace Global Fund $4.9 M
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation $4.2 M
- Kendeda Fund $4.0 M
- Wal-Mart Foundation $3.8 M
- Schmidt Family Foundation $3.7 M
- California Community Foundation $3.6 M
- JPB Foundation $3.2 M
- Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors $3.1 M
- John Templeton Foundation $3.1 M
- Charles LŽopold Mayer Foundation for Human Progress $3.0 M
- M = Millions
Bilateral and Multilateral Funding
21%
Share of OECD
human rights funding
$1.1 Billion out of
$5.0 Billion for all rights
1,981 Disbursements
Top Funders
- Sweden $186.0 M
- United States $129.5 M
- Switzerland $119.8 M
- Germany $103.9 M
- United Kingdom $87.3 M
- Norway $84.2 M
- Japan $56.1 M
- Denmark $49.5 M
- Netherlands $44.7 M
- European Union Institutions $42.4 M
- Belgium $23.3 M
- Finland $22.8 M
- Australia $22.6 M
- Spain $20.1 M
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) $13.0 M
- France $11.5 M
- Italy $4.8 M
- International Labour Organisation $4.5 M
- Ireland $4.1 M
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) $3.7 M
- World Health Organization (WHO) $3.1 M
- Iceland $3.0 M
- Canada $2.5 M
- Korea $2.4 M
- Austria $1.6 M
- M = Millions
Foundation Funding by Issue
Human Rights, General
$93,260,213 (20%)
334 Grants (21%)Sexual and Reproductive Rights
$59,621,546 (13%)
77 Grants (5%)Environmental and Resource Rights
$58,523,060 (13%)
240 Grants (15%)Freedom from Violence
$53,814,817 (12%)
142 Grants (9%)Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination
$44,192,300 (10%)
257 Grants (16%)Migration and Displacement
$30,111,186 (7%)
108 Grants (7%)Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding
$29,480,824 (6%)
121 Grants (8%)Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law
$23,757,324 (5%)
75 Grants (5%)Expression and Information Rights
$21,452,954 (5%)
85 Grants (5%)Health and Well-being Rights
$16,161,842 (4%)
65 Grants (4%)Economic and Labor Rights
$10,445,667 (2%)
30 Grants (2%)Civic and Political Participation
$6,173,042 (1%)
29 Grants (2%)
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
$150,059,974 (33%)
329 Grants (21%)Children & Youth
$63,099,043 (14%)
145 Grants (9%)Migrants & Refugees
$41,068,917 (9%)
175 Grants (11%)Indigenous Peoples
$24,878,063 (5%)
103 Grants (6%)Human Rights Defenders
$11,864,376 (3%)
26 Grants (2%)People with Disabilities
$4,282,435 (1%)
25 Grants (2%)LGBTQI
$3,811,240 (1%)
46 Grants (3%)Sex Workers
$223,807 (0%)
4 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
$189,635,871 (41%)
563 Grants (35%)Capacity-building and Technical Assistance
$60,055,233 (13%)
134 Grants (8%)Coalition-building and Collaboration
$47,232,048 (10%)
184 Grants (11%)Media and Technology
$44,129,500 (10%)
146 Grants (9%)Research and Documentation
$25,257,880 (5%)
90 Grants (6%)Grassroots Organizing
$8,079,028 (2%)
48 Grants (3%)Litigation and Legal Aid
$7,648,009 (2%)
36 Grants (2%)Arts and Culture
$2,316,679 (1%)
32 Grants (2%)Security and Resilience
$1,960,000 (0%)
8 Grants (0%)Scholarships and Travel
$157,951 (0%)
4 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.
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.
39 Grants (2%)