Grants for Exiled Russian CSOs Working on the Protection of Human Rights

Since the introduction of the law on “foreign agents” in 2012, the legislative framework for civil society organisations (CSOs) in Russia has become increasingly restrictive and prohibitive. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the scale of the crackdown on civil society escalated further. A series of new laws adopted, in combination with the impact of the sanctions in response to the war, increased the risk faced by human rights organisations and limited the possibilities for them to receive support from outside of the country, making their work nearly impossible. The intensification of persecution and official liquidation of CSOs has increased the demand for their teams to relocate in order to be able to continue human rights work in exile. CSOs and individual human rights defenders in exile also face various challenges, including legal obstacles, difficulty to open bank accounts, and personal issues related to visas, insurance, and housing. Supporting these organisations is crucial to keep the human rights community in and from Russia alive and to maintain the civil society infrastructure to the extent possible so that these organisations are ready to return whenever the circumstances allow.

The NHC aims to provide flexible emergency assistance grants to CSOs from Russia, which work specifically in the field of protection and promotion of human rights and are/were forced to leave Russia and want to relocate their operations. The work of the organisation that applies should have been negatively affected by the wave of political persecutions in Russia right before and after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The purpose of these grants is to ensure that these CSOs can re-locate their staff members, re-calibrate and continue their work from exile.

More details about the call for proposals and how to apply can be found here.

Подробнее о конкурсе предложений можно узнать здесь.

Interested organisations are asked to apply in English or Russian no later than 12 June 2023. Apply now.

For questions regarding the call for proposals or the application procedure, please send us an email to hrdprogramme.nhc@protonmail.com no later than 5 June 2023.