Human Rights

Fulfilling the rights that belong to all people depends upon an active and engaged community and public officials and institutions committed to the inherent dignity and worth of every person.

Why It Matters

Fundamental human rights are required for people to achieve their full potential and contribute to society.

Our efforts to ensure human rights for all at the global, regional and national levels are based on the premise that for societies to advance the value of every citizen must be recognized and each citizen's right to equal opportunity must be secured and upheld.

The Focus of Our Work

We focus on securing equal rights and opportunity for all. We support efforts to help vulnerable populations gain access to the social, political and cultural institutions that govern their rights. This work includes:

Strengthening organizations and mechanisms that enforce human rights
Monitoring the policies and practices of institutions that affect the well-being of individual citizens
Supporting legal and advocacy efforts to establish and retain basic civil, economic and social rights
Ensuring civil and criminal justice systems are fair, effective, accessible and nondiscriminatory.

Our work concentrates on the world's most marginalized groups, which are among the poorest and most vulnerable in every society, and which face some of the severest forms of discrimination:

Women
Racial and ethnic minorities
Indigenous peoples
Immigrant communities
People living with HIV/AIDS

Initiative	Approved*	No. of Grants	Avg. Grant
Human Rights YTD 2009 2009 2008 2007 2006
Total	$59,059,457	206
Advancing Racial Justice And Minority Rights	$11,760	24	$490,000
Protecting Women's Rights	$2,550	13	$196,154
Protecting Immigrant And Migrant Rights	$8,945	33	$271,061
Reforming Civil And Criminal Justice Systems	$5,868	27	$217,359
Reducing HIV/AIDS Discrimination And Exclusion	$8,567	35	$244,780
Strengthening Human Rights Worldwide	$13,737	42	$327,082
Advancing Economic and Social Rights	$7,631	32	$238,469

Human Rights 2009 2009 2008 2007 2006
Advancing Racial Justice And Minority Rights	To secure equal rights and greater opportunity for racial and ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples
Protecting Women's Rights	To improve the lives and livelihoods of low-income women by strategically addressing inequality and discrimination
Protecting Immigrant And Migrant Rights	To help national, state and local organizations secure and protect migrant rights and integrate them into a broader social justice agenda
Reforming Civil And Criminal Justice Systems	To ensure access for marginalized groups to a robust criminal justice community committed to fairness and equal protection under the law
Reducing HIV/AIDS Discrimination And Exclusion	To protect and advance the rights of people affected by HIV/AIDS
Strengthening Human Rights Worldwide	To strengthen an effective infrastructure of institutions that enforce human rights laws and standards nationally, regionally and globally
Advancing Economic and Social Rights	To help people demand basic economic and social rights, and access remedies when those rights are violated