Global fund launches new web resource for local human rights activists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cristina Villegas
202-347-7488 extension 201

(Washington, DC, March 1, 2006) — The Fund for Global Human Rights today announced the launch of its newest tool to bring attention and funding to thousands of struggling human rights activists around the world.

“Securing the most basic rights for people worldwide requires effective frontline organizations challenging abuse wherever it occurs,” said Fund for Global Human Rights executive director Regan Ralph. “We find and fund local human rights groups making the biggest difference. Our new website shows who these activists are, how they are improving human rights conditions, and how anyone can get involved,” said Ralph.

The newly launched website provides detailed information to donors, media, and the general public about the Fund, the work of its grantees and the conditions they face, and offers information about human rights issues and crises around the world. Observers can keep up to date on the stories of grantee organizations, their challenges, and their victories. Interested grant applicants can learn about funding guidelines and how to apply. The site operates in English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.

The Fund for Global Human Rights supports local human rights groups that take great personal risks to strengthen human rights conditions.  “In just three years, the Fund has assisted over 140 human rights organizations working in desperate conditions and achieving victories in the face of extreme adversity,” said Ralph.

To date, the Fund has awarded over $4 million in human rights grants. Although each grant is small, the impact of new resources is significant. With support from the Fund, the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia led a successful campaign to secure the first law establishing women’s inheritance rights. In Morocco, the Forum for Truth and Justice is able to document human rights violations, including forced disappearance, murder, and torture, and press for justice system reform to prevent future state-sponsored abuse. In Mexico, Fund grantee Centro Mujeres won a major victory for women’s rights in Baja California Sur in April 2005 when the state legislature passed reforms criminalizing domestic violence and marital rape and reducing the sentence for women who are found guilty of having illegal abortions from five years imprisonment to community service.

The website features the work of Fund grantee Bufete Juridico Popular (the Public Legal Clinic), which provides legal assistance for families whose land was taken by force during Guatemala’s civil war and provides access to justice for a population seeking accountability for gross abuses during the war. Despite the peace accords being signed in 1996, rule of law remains tenuous in Guatemala and accountability for past abuses is still in question.  The Fund was one of Bufete’s first donors and is its largest source of funding.

“Lasting change depends on local leaders on the ground,” said Ralph, “Through this online resource, the world can fund courageous leaders who risk their lives to better their societies.”

For further information, please contact Cristina Villegas at 202-347-7488, extension 201 or visit us online at http://www.globalhumanrights.org/. 

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Background information:

The Fund welcomes calls from the press.  With grant-making programs in thirteen countries, access to local activists, and the knowledge required to identify top-notch local human rights groups and monitor their progress, the Fund for Global Human Rights can help members of the press cover breaking stories.  Government repression often makes it very difficult to get the whole story, but the Fund can connect journalists to those who risk their lives to change their societies.

The Fund for Global Human Rights was launched in October 2002 with $1.5 million raised from US and Europe based private grant-makers who sought to increase the resources supporting vital, on the ground, human rights activism. Founding donors include the Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Oak Foundation, the Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, and several anonymous donors.  The Fund for Global Human Rights focuses on five regions of the world and facilitates resources to organizations doing this critical work in often difficult conditions.