In Today’s Human Rights Crisis, Lies Opportunity. We Need to Take it.

About the author

*Dr. Bryan Sims is Director of Peacebuilding & Partnerships at Humanity United, where he provides strategic leadership in advancing inclusive peace processes and political transitions. He brings two decades of experience guiding complex initiatives at the intersection of collective nonviolent action, democratic resilience, and philanthropy. Dr. Sims aims to support partners to anticipate emerging challenges in authoritarian and conflict-affected contexts while investing in locally led solutions. He lives in Washington DC.

Human Rights Funding Needs Urgent Strategic Adaptation

Human rights norms, institutions, and funding are unraveling at an alarming pace. Though never applied equally worldwide, human rights remain our essential guide to justice, protection, and dignity.

We face an unprecedentedly perilous moment: global in scale, deeply interconnected, and riddled with vulnerabilities. The post–World War II human rights framework is under greater strain than ever, demanding urgent, coordinated, and bold responses. Yet, funding is collapsing. Human rights–focused Official Development Assistance is projected to fall by up to $1.9 billion annually by 2026—a 31% drop from 2023 levels. Philanthropy, instead of being shielded, is absorbing the shock: foundations face direct losses from ODA cuts while being pressured—unrealistically—to close widening gaps.

Still, within crisis lies opportunity. Philanthropy can – and is – rise(ing) to the moment.

The Transnational Nature of the Threats to Human Rights

Attacks on human rights are not isolated; they are coordinated, transnational, and often enabled by institutions in the Global North. Authoritarian and populist regimes now share tactics, resources, and narratives that normalize exclusion, creating enabling environments where societies are once again openly “othering” and questioning who is a human being and who is not. 

Civic space is shrinking while repression across borders is thriving. Today, fewer than 7 in 10 people worldwide live in open or free societies. As we contemplate how to protect and expand human rights in a less democratic and more violent world, we need to recognize that the drivers are not merely local—they are fueled by global networks of autocrats, populists, and violent non-state actors who profit from illicit flows of money and power. As historian Anne Applebaum observes, these networks:

• Control state-owned companies making multibillion-dollar investment decisions across countries;
• Buy surveillance technology from China, bots from Russia, and spyware from Israeli firms (including EU subsidiaries);
• Launder illicit wealth through vast financial networks in the UK and U.S. (notably Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota, and Wyoming);
• Whitewash their reputations to appear as responsible global citizens.

Far-right parties, particularly those in democracies, and governments are successfully coordinating through initiatives such as the Geneva Consensus Declaration (backed by the U.S. under Trump) and through anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion NGOs active not only at the United Nations but also in key regional bodies like the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

We all know that philanthropy must act—and act differently. There are signals that our sector is up to the challenge: through increasing giving; making bold statements in solidarity with those on the front lines despite threats to our own institutions; and taking steps to build greater coordination as a means to collectively leverage the best of our institutional operations, networks, and resources in response to one of the most alarming collective challenges of our modern times. 

There is, however, a vulnerability threatening our success. To overcome this, we must intentionally break down the thematic and geographic silos created by our strategic and funding streams. We need interconnected, intersectional strategies that bridge sectors, communities, and ecosystems—uniting Global Majority and Global North coalitions to confront shared threats and drive collective solutions. We must act with the same strategic focus and coordination that those who oppose human rights are already using—and succeed where they have.

Human rights struggles in the U.S. and around the world are inseparable. Rising authoritarianism, disinformation campaigns, attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, and restrictions on civic space are not isolated trends—they are shared tactics that travel across borders. Funders who separate domestic and international work are missing critical opportunities: to anticipate emerging threats as strategies of repression migrate between countries; to strengthen movements by connecting U.S. racial, Indigenous, and migrant rights work with global human rights efforts, amplifying collective power; to coordinate strategies that tackle shared drivers like digital surveillance, corporate power, and the climate crisis; and to invest in resilience, ensuring communities are connected and adaptable in the face of repression. Integrating domestic and global investments allows philanthropy to act transnationally—not just funding across borders, but acknowledging that the fight for civic space and human rights is one, shared global struggle.

Emerging Opportunities to Meet the Challenge

There are two early approaches that are rapidly achieving results that could shape our sector at this moment. 

The Better Preparedness Initiative brings together funders – from human rights, peace and security, and humanitarian sectors – and social movements to drive significant resources to those on the frontlines of crisis and closing civic space. Its Crisis Coordination Playbook, co-designed by foundations and civil society through the Human Rights Funders Network, offers a concrete roadmap for how funders facing crises or entrenched civic space restrictions can coordinate. Philanthropic responses are most powerful when funders align strategies, share risks, and act together. The Playbook highlights several ways this can happen:

• Consultative Coordination: A light-touch, rapid-start approach where funders share intelligence, align context analysis, and coordinate some actions while continuing bilateral work. Useful at the onset of crisis.
• Collective Coordination: A more formal model where funders develop a shared strategy, establish complementary roles, pool resources, and engage civil society through advisory groups. Effective for protracted crises and entrenched civic space restrictions.
• Permanent Coordination: A standing, multi-stakeholder mechanism with pooled funds, early warning systems, and global advocacy capacity. This is the long-term infrastructure philanthropy needs to respond at scale.

By choosing the appropriate mode, funders can avoid duplication, respond more quickly, and ensure sustained support for those on the frontlines. Importantly, these coordination mechanisms ensure civil society are included as equal partners, with strategies led by those most affected.

The Collective Action Assistance Fund is a three-year, activist-led, multi-donor initiative shaped by Global Majority movements to respond to the evolving landscape of people-powered change. The Fund provides financial and strategic support to strengthen cross-issue coordination and solidarity across Global Majority and Northern contexts, empowering movements to amplify impact and drive systemic change locally and globally. It demonstrates a model of public-private partnerships that can transform collaboration, learning, and coordination for people-powered social change.

The Fund has four core components:

1. Activist-led participatory resourcing – Grants and non-financial support, including technical expertise, networking, and access to policy and philanthropic spaces.
2. Ecosystem grants – Support connecting movements to skills, organizations, and networks needed to achieve their goals (e.g., investigative journalists, unions, PR specialists).
3. Learning and technical support for donors – Training and advising public (bilateral) and private donors to strengthen informal organizations and movements.
4. Leverage a separate 501c4 – Engage in advocacy, policy influence, or issue-based campaigns that complement the grantmaking and movement support of the Fund.

Let’s Do This

Emerging models like the Better Preparedness Initiative and its Crisis Coordination Playbook and the Collective Action Assistance Fund demonstrate the power of transnational cooperation. By centering Global Majority leadership and fostering solidarity with movements across the Global Majority and Global North, these initiatives demonstrate how coordinated, intersectional approaches can not only respond to immediate crises but also strengthen long-term resilience. Human rights advocacy is no longer a local or national endeavor—it is a shared struggle that thrives when movements and funders act together, amplifying the collective power of communities worldwide.

In this moment, philanthropy has an unprecedented opportunity: to match the strategic sophistication of those who undermine human rights, to break down silos, and to build a global, transnational network led by the Global Majority and supported by the Global North. By embracing collaboration, solidarity, and bold, coordinated action, we can protect civic space, defend human dignity, and ensure that human rights remain a living, enforceable reality for all.