PUBLISHED: MAY 2009

This paper by the International Service for Human Rights examines the right of human rights defenders to access funding under international human rights law. It draws together various international standards for the protection of this right, in addition to examining the different challenges to this right for human rights defenders.

Section I examines the right to access funding within the context of freedom of association. Section II examines the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms(Declaration on human rights defenders), which codifies access to funding as an autonomous right. Section III provides some examples of violations of the right to access funding.