Emergency Fund Support for Human Rights Defenders in 2023

Defending human rights is a dangerous job in many parts of the world. When a threatening situation arises, Civil Rights Defenders’ Emergency Fund provides rapid assistance to improve human right defenders’ security as quickly as possible. Receiving immediate support when threatened is crucial for human rights defenders’ ability to continue their work. During 2023, the Emergency Fund provided support to 1 351 human rights defenders and members of their families in 39 countries in 5 different regions, through a total of 192 grants.

Emergency Support in 2023

Over the past year, countries all over the world have become more repressive. According to the latest Democracy Report by V-Dem Institute, 71% of the world’s population live in autocracies. We have seen an ongoing trend of increased repression towards human rights defenders, and of more human rights defenders being forced into exile. The needs of exiled communities continue to grow and are becoming increasingly complex. Human rights defenders and civil society organisations in exile face urgent need of assistance at early stages of relocation, but also support to establish their work long-term. At the same time, countries are increasingly using transnational repression to attack human rights defenders beyond their borders including, but not limited to, illegal deportations, digital threats, and family intimidation.

The Emergency Fund provides short-term support to human rights defenders facing various levels of danger with the goal of making human rights defenders feel safe enough to continue their work. We support those who are able to stay in their countries by increasing their security capabilities and giving them the tools and psychological support to continue their work. For those who must leave, we provide funds to relocate. Once relocated, we provide the support they need to both continue their human rights work and protect themselves from further acts of aggression, such as transnational repression.

“Providing emergency support quickly after a threat can mean the difference between a human rights defender continuing their work or being forced to abandon it. By offering immediate assistance, we help ensure that defenders have the necessary security, capacity and resources to persevere in their vital efforts to protect human rights and advance democracy.”

– Zinaida Muradova, Head of Rapid Response at Civil Rights Defenders

How we support

If a human rights defender or organisation is threatened due to their work, we can provide different types of tailored support to ensure that the human rights defender can continue their fight for human rights. We can build up an organisation’s capacity through trainings and consultations and provide both organisations and individuals with security measures and improvements. We can provide psychological support to those who have been attacked and legal aid to help human rights defenders facing arrest or other legal harassment. If necessary, we can help a human rights defender temporarily relocate. We can even provide humanitarian support to the families of imprisoned human rights defenders. Frequently, we provide multiple types of support through a combined intervention.

Who we help

Emergency Fund resources go to any human rights defender at risk because of the work they do. A human rights defender can apply individually, or as a human rights organisation. We support human rights defenders that work with all types of human rights issues, from LGBTI+ rights to freedom of expression. We also acknowledge the differentiated threats and violence that human rights defenders face based on their gender and intersection of different aspects of their identities, and we work to make the funds accessible and inclusive for the most vulnerable groups.

The Emergency Fund’s global mandate allows us to respond to the diverse challenges faced by civil society organisations and human rights defenders across various regions and to the impact of global geopolitical shifts. The ability to assess commonalities in the threats posed by violence, repressions, and human rights violations, while at the same time tailoring strategies to meet the specific needs of different regions is crucial in addressing the risks human rights defenders face. At the core of our approach, we aim to build resilience of human rights defenders, supporting their psychological wellbeing, improving their security, and reigniting the spirit of activism.

Decrease in Emergency support funding

Although the need for support has continued to grow over the last year, our Emergency Fund funding has, unfortunately, decreased. In 2023, the Emergency Fund had to deny 45 per cent of the incoming requests. Reduced funding has not only limited our capacity to reach a larger number of human rights defenders, but also our ability to respond to a challenging global landscape with democratic backsliding, repressive laws and increased armed conflict in the countries where we operate. This has caused us to shift focus more towards supporting individual human rights defenders whose safety and security are on the line. Many of the most pressing cases involve supporting an individual human rights defenders in direct danger, rather than providing broader, long term protection measures for civil society organisations. This has led to a decrease of 27 per cent in the overall number of human rights defenders who were assisted in 2023 compared to 2022.

Read more about the Emergency Fund 2023:

• Spotlight on Africa
• Spotlight on Asia
• Spotlight on Eurasia
• Spotlight on Europe and Middle East / North Africa
• Spotlight on Latin America and the Carribean

Find the full report on our work in the Emergency Fund during 2023 here.