Advancing Human Rights: 2021 Key Findings

Every year, Human Rights Funders Network’s Advancing Human Rights research provides insights into the evolving landscape of human rights funding. Our analysis reveals that 2021 was a year that stands as a critical high-water mark. Amidst a global health crisis and worldwide mobilization for justice, human rights funding hit a record $5.7 billion—a testament to what is possible when philanthropy meets a crisis head-on.

Our research highlights three achievements from 2021 that have critical relevance today:

• Evidence of Scale: A remarkable $1.6 billion leap in new funding over the first two years of the pandemic proves that philanthropy has the capacity to bridge present shortfalls.
• The Power of Flexibility: Flexible support hit an all-time high at 32% of all human rights grant dollars, remaining our most effective tool for protecting movements under threat.
• A Shift in Solidarity: For the first time, we saw simultaneous, significant growth in funding for human rights action in every region of the Global South and East. We built the momentum to begin closing the “trust gap” and resourcing the frontlines directly.

In an era of rising authoritarianism and coordinated legal assaults on civil society, the lessons of 2021 are more than just data—they are a proof of concept. This report documents our past progress and provides a strategic roadmap for funders to build the movement-centered resourcing model needed today.

We are grateful for the contributions of our research partners: Candid, Ariadne – European Funders for Social Change and Human Rights and Prospera–International Network of Women’s Funds.

If you are interested in contributing to this research or have any questions, please email us at AHR@hrfn.org.