Protection Grants: up to EUR 7,500 for defenders at risk

Front Line Defenders accepts Protection Grants applications on an ongoing basis, with no deadline. The maximum grant reaches EUR 7,500. The programme has run since 2001 and covers specific security costs for defenders at risk, instead of project activity in the usual sense.

No country restrictions apply, and the fund works globally, so Ukrainian human rights defenders and their organisations apply on the same terms as everyone else.

One condition closes the door on a large part of the Ukrainian audience: the fund does not cover costs for defenders who are already in exile. For those who have left, this instrument will not work.

What the grant funds

A grant covers costs that directly reduce risk for a defender or their organisation. That means physical security of premises or of an individual, digital and communication security, and legal fees for defenders facing judicial harassment.

The fund separately covers medical fees for defenders who have been attacked or who developed a medical condition through their peaceful human rights work. Another strand provides family assistance for imprisoned defenders, or for family members at risk because of a defender’s activities.

Who can apply

Individual human rights defenders and their organisations apply from any country. The fund works globally and sets no list of eligible states.

It does not fund international organisations, nor applicants who have already applied for or are receiving support for the same purpose elsewhere. Before a decision, Front Line Defenders may check whether another international funder has already financed the same request.

Conditions and requirements

The list of ineligible costs runs long and specific: retrospective funding, ongoing running costs such as salaries and office rent, armed security guards, purchase of vehicles, and general living costs. The fund separately excludes costs for defenders already living in exile.

A grant generally covers less than 100 per cent of the proposed budget, so part of the costs needs covering from elsewhere. If a project does not go ahead or finds alternative funding, the money returns to the fund and cannot be reallocated to other work.

A practical note. Frame the request around a specific threat instead of a broader human rights issue, because the programme funds the situation of the defender, and applications about general human rights work fall outside the mandate.

How to apply

Submission runs through a secure online form on the fund website. The fund accepts applications in Arabic, Russian, English, French, Spanish, Farsi, Portuguese, Chinese and Turkish. Ukrainian is absent from that list, so the application has to go in another language, most often English.

After submission a Front Line Defenders staff member will contact you, so give a channel that is safe for you. Where contact with the fund could put you at risk, the fund advises using a secure computer, a safe internet connection and a separate new email account.

Lobbying in support of an application is discouraged. Every applicant receives a written response regardless of the outcome. On completion you submit a short written report with copies of all original receipts, and without a satisfactory report no further grants follow. Programme description: frontlinedefenders.org. Application form: secure form.