Ahlan to the website of the Arab Human Rights Fund (AHRF)

Since the first few human rights organizations were established nearly 25 years ago, the Arab region has witnessed an exponential increase in this important field of activity.  Today, over 100 organizations in the Arab region are working in one or more areas of human rights, and hundreds of development and social service organizations are making use of human rights concepts and language and are also including a rights-based approach in their work. Moreover, many governments in the region have signed and ratified the major human rights conventions and treaties, and several Arab states were involved in the formulation of core international human rights instruments.

Despite these apparent successes, many remain mistrustful or suspicious of the work of human rights proponents. In addition, human rights organizations suffer from restrictive non-governmental organization (NGO) laws in the region as a whole.  Activists are imprisoned and abused in some countries, while others have been forced into exile where they continue to advocate for democracy and human rights back home. Less dramatic, but no less dire, is the situation of human rights advocates who suffer dismissal from work, restrictions on movement and travel, and other forms of daily harassment. 

Some Arab governments react angrily to any criticism of their human rights practices and accuse their critics of “defaming the nation” or “jeopardizing national security”. They also attempt to discredit the human rights paradigm in the public eye by dismissing it as an essentially Western construct, pointing to human rights organizations’ near-total reliance on Western-based funding, which is the result of a dearth of home-grown regional financial support for human rights activities. 

Nevertheless, it is the policies of these very governments that make reliance on foreign funding inevitable. In countries where a margin of spare wealth exists, laws make it very difficult to raise funds without express governmental permission. Moreover, fear resulting from the perceived political nature of human rights work seriously affects voluntary contributions from businesspeople and corporations, never mind the lack of tax advantages for corporate or individual contributions.

The Arab region’s long and well-established tradition of philanthropy is religion-based and almost entirely focused on charity and relief aid. The concept of development funding or social justice philanthropy is a relatively new phenomenon in the area.  Few local donor agencies work towards building assets that enable civil society actors to tackle problems at the root in a sustained manner. If non-profit activity is perceived as political – as the defence of human rights often is – the potential of finding funding in Arab countries falls dramatically.

Reliance on international support, however, carries with it other problems. Experience has shown that relatively few international donors in the field of human rights operate on the basis of long-term strategic goals that are based on the particular needs of the Arab region.  Most of these donors focus their support on issues that are identified internationally as important at a particular time, with local actors rarely participating in setting priorities. Moreover, these priorities change from time to time, meaning that human rights activities in the region tend to follow trends rather than working on the basis of plans and needs arising from within. 

This indicates an evident and urgent need for a human rights fund, managed and sustained by individuals from within the region with the requisite integrity, expertise, skills and commitment to supporting human rights on the basis of directions and priorities identified within the region.

It was with this in mind that the idea of the Arab Human Rights Fund (AHRF) was born. Conceived as a long-term project aimed at meeting the challenges described above, the Fund is based on a commitment to the universality of humanity and the efficacy of the human rights paradigm. We are convinced that sustainable change comes from the diligent work of individuals and institutions most concerned by their own realities.