Lifeline Embattled CSO Assistance Fund
Freedom House administers several funds which offer emergency assistance to organizations and individuals around the world who are under threat because of their human rights work.
The Lifeline Embattled CSO Assistance Fund provides emergency financial assistance to civil society organizations (CSOs) under threat or attack and rapid response advocacy and resiliency grants to support CSOs in responding to broader threats against civic space. Lifeline supports a variety of human rights CSOs, including human rights organizations, journalist associations, student groups, labor unions, think tanks, and others.
Lifeline is comprised of a consortium of seven international NGOs, including:
- Freedom House (consortium lead)
- CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
- Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
- Front Line Defenders
- The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL)
- People in Need (PIN)
- Swedish International Liberal Centre (SILC)
Lifeline is supported by a Donor Steering Committee of 19 governments, including: Australia, Benin, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as the Ford Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation.
We are highly thankful to the Lifeline team. You are amazing and you have not only saved our lives but also gave us more courage and power to help thousands of girls and women.
Attribution
Representative from a CSO in Pakistan
Emergency Assistance
Through Freedom House and Front Line Defenders, Lifeline provides small, short-term emergency grants to CSOs threatened because of their human rights work. Emergency grants can address security, medical expenses, legal representation, prison visits, trial monitoring, temporary relocation, equipment replacement, and other urgently needed expenses.
Advocacy Grants
Lifeline rapid response advocacy grants give local CSOs the resources to push back against closures of civic space as they arise. Lifeline advocacy grants are highly flexible, and can support a wide variety of activities, such as community mobilization, policy and legal analysis, civil society coalition building, strategic litigation, awareness raising campaigns, and advocacy capacity building.
Resiliency Grants
Lifeline rapid response resiliency grants provide support to threatened CSOs to avoid or mitigate the threats they face and help them continue to work. These grants are flexible and support a range of activities including digital or physical security training; technical training on how to respond to restrictive legislation; building peer support networks, or establishing temporary collaborative spaces.
