Advancing Human Rights Research

Since 2010, Human Rights Funders Network’s annual Advancing Human Rights research has systematically mapped the landscape of global funding for human rights. Conducted in partnership with Candid, Ariadne, and Prospera, this research provides the most comprehensive analysis of philanthropic and government funding to support human rights worldwide, revealing a steady and significant growth in foundation grantmaking over the past decade.

Our analyses address critical questions about the funding landscape: which issues, populations, and regions receive support—and which are overlooked? We also examine where human rights issues overlap and intersect, and who is entrusted to lead change in their own contexts. Our research looks at a wide range of human rights issues—from ensuring freedom from violence to demanding equitable treatment for those most at risk of discrimination—as well as how funding flows. We create tools to get the findings into the hands of those who can best use them to improve grantmaking practices and drive more and better grant dollars directly to human rights actors and movements leading change around the world.

Our analysis organizes grants by a variety of facets, including the human rights issues addressed, populations supported, and funding strategies used. Explore these topics and the full scope of our research by following the links below.