What comes to mind when you think of human rights? The right to life? Freedom? Fairness?
By definition human rights belong to every person and include basic rights to air, water, and life, regardless of which country a person calls home.
Out of the some 800 community projects Global Greengrants Fund supports annually, those defined as “human rights” deal with the “right to land, health, livelihood, freedom, culture, and a clean environment.”
And maybe this comes as a surprise, but the majority of our grants—close to 80 percent—include a human rights component.
In fact, Global Greengrants is one of the top five funders (by number of grants) of human rights work around the world, according to the International Human Rights Funders Group’s latest analysis. The report, “Advancing Human Rights: Update on Global Foundation Grantmaking,” analyzes 2014 grantmaking data from 729 foundations.
Global Greengrants Fund is also listed as the fifth top funder of indigenous rights, and the eighth largest funder of environmental and resource rights.
Below are a handful of stories from projects we supported in 2014 that demonstrate how our funds are helping local people work to protect their environment and the rights of people who directly depend on it.
- Saving the Leuser Ecosystem: Goldman Environmental Prizewinner and Global Greengrants’ grantee, Rudi Putra, has brought together local village chiefs, government officials, and nonprofits to dismantle illegal palm oil plantations wreaking havoc on the irreplaceable Leuser Ecosystem in Indonesia and the rights of the people who live there. Find out how successful the forest-recovery project has been.
- Indigenous Young People Bring Hope to a Siberian Town: After flooding and a massive mudslide in the Siberian town of Arshan, local indigenous youth came together to raise money to help the town rebuild. They used a $2,900 emergency grant from Global Greengrants to host the fundraiser, which was a success. But that’s not the end of the story. Read what happened when news of their efforts spread.
- Promoting Women’s Climate Leadership in Nepal: Climate change has a disproportionate impact on women who depend directly on natural resources for their livelihoods. For women in Nepal experiencing the impacts of natural disasters like floods and landslides, the consequences can threaten their rights to water, land, and life. Here’s how a grant can make a big difference.
It’s thanks to our network of people on the frontlines, experts, partners, and donors that we are able to work each day to support the voices of people whose lives are most impacted by environmental harm and social injustice. Together, we can continue to work towards a world where local people have a say in the health of their food, water, and resources.