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The Netherlands has committed to contribute to the Lifeline Fund for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for the next three years in authoritarian countries with a condition that the initial results have to be satisfactory. This was announced by the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Uri Rosenthal in Vilnius at a ministerial conference of the Community of Democracies, a network of over 100 democratic countries.
“Support for human rights defenders in need is one of the priorities of Dutch human rights policy,” said Mr Rosenthal. “Unfortunately, we are seeing more repression of NGOs, including restrictions on their internet freedom. The Lifeline Fund can fill a vacuum,” he added.
The Lifeline Fund administered by the organisation Freedom House provides aid to NGOs in need, for example those involved in a trial or under physical threat.
Creation of the Lifeline Fund was announced last July by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the Community of Democracies meeting in Krakow, Poland, to support embattled NGOs and she invited like-minded governments to join in this global effort and the Netherlands was the first country to make a contribution.
One year later, the Department of State, together with twelve other democratic nations spanning the globe, launched the Lifeline: Embattled NGOs Assistance Fund in a meeting in Vilnius with the international consortium of organizations who will be implementing the Fund’s activities.
Other partners of the fund are Australia, Benin, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the US. Together they have seeded the Lifeline Fund with over $4 million to begin a multi-year effort.
