Since 2007, Freedom House has been dedicated to providing short-term support to human rights defenders, civil society organizations, and survivors of severe religious persecution in some of the world’s most repressive and conflict-ridden environments. Their mission is to ensure that frontline activists and civil society organizations continue their critical work in hostile and unpredictable environments through emergency assistance, urgent advocacy and resiliency grants, and preventive security training.
The grant program offers three types of grants, each designed to support civil society organizations (CSOs) in different ways. The first is Emergency Assistance Grants, which provide small, short-term emergency support to CSOs threatened because of their human rights work, covering needs like security, medical expenses, legal representation, and equipment replacement. Rapid Response Advocacy Grants are available to give CSOs the resources to combat closures of civic space as they occur, supporting a wide range of advocacy activities including policy and legal advocacy, awareness raising, and building coalitions. Lastly, Rapid Response Resiliency Grants aim to help CSOs in high-risk environments proactively avoid or mitigate threats, supporting activities like digital or physical security training and establishing collaborative spaces for CSOs to continue their work.
Specific causes supported by the grant program include responding to civic space restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a temporary broadening of grant criteria to address a wider range of violations against civic space. The program prioritizes support to organizations facing additional layers of vulnerability, such as women’s rights and women-led organizations, indigenous, land rights, and environmental CSOs, as well as LGBTQI+ defenders, offering them targeted assistance for emergency situations, advocacy to protect and expand their rights, and strategies to enhance their resiliency.