Deadline: Ongoing
The MacArthur Foundation’s Human Rights Program seeks to strengthen human rights protections, advance government accountability, and improve the reach and quality of justice .The foundation’s grant making aims to defend free expression and enhance criminal justice globally, and in select countries.
Thematic Areas
- Increasing threats to freedom of speech and association, ranging from intensified attacks on frontline human rights defenders to the rise of national laws that restrict the ability for civil society to operate.
- Assertive citizen movements calling for greater government accountability and demanding more protection of basic rights.
- Growing demands for localizing accountability for atrocity crimes and expanding access to justice.
- Rapid advancement in digital technology that is altering the way human rights advocates monitor violations, collect, manage, and protect data, and analyze findings.
Geographical Focus
- The foundation engages with a consortium of funders to improve national laws related to atrocity crimes in countries across Africa, with a particular MacArthur focus on Uganda.
- In Mexico it supports efforts to improve investigation of human rights violations under the new criminal justice system.
Eligibility Criteria
- Most of the foundation’s funding goes to non-profit organizations in support of specific projects, the Foundation does make some grants to individuals.
- The Foundation does not support political activities or attempts to influence action on specific legislation, and does not provide the following:
- Scholarships / tuition assistance for undergraduate, graduate, or postgraduate studies
- Annual fundraising drives
- Institutional benefits
- Honorary functions or similar projects
- Unsolicited grants to individuals, except for the MacArthur Fellows, which operates through a separate nominating process that is not open to public nominations.
How to Apply
Interested applicants can submit an expression of interest via given website.
For more information, please visit MacArthur Foundation’s Human Rights Program.
