August 17, 2016
Over the past decade, human rights organizations have faced democratic backsliding, shrinking civic space, and cuts to funding, yet they have continued to defend hard-won gains, open new fronts of struggle, and lay the groundwork for longer-term change.
"Charting Human Rights Change Through a Disorienting Decade" draws on reflections from nearly 90 human rights organizations across regions and issues to examine what has been achieved over the last decade, what has enabled positive change, and what this might mean for the field going forward. It charts progress across five dimensions of change: law and policy, accountability, norms and narratives, ecosystem strengthening, and prevention, and distils the lessons organizations have drawn about what enables durable impact.
Its findings challenge both despair and complacency: human rights progress is real, non-linear, and often invisible to conventional measures, and it depends on forms of investment that current funding models frequently undervalue. The report was commissioned by Lesley Carson, former Director of the International Human Rights Program at Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, and written by Ignacio Saiz, independent advisor to international human rights organizations, philanthropic foundations and funder learning platforms, including TAI.
Read the full report here:
