The Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders (EMHRF) is an independent regional foundation led by human rights defenders and experts in the affairs of the Arab region and acting for local human rights defenders, groups and NGOs from the region.
The Foundation was established and registered as a Danish foundation in 2004 by EuroMed Rights, a network comprising of more than 80 human rights organisations and defenders from the region, following a feasibility study that acknowledged the need for creating a flexible financial instrument to cover funding gaps for independent civil society actors.
The Foundation is a unique regional contribution to promote respect for human rights within the South-Mediterranean region (including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria).
More specifically, it allocates financial support and provides tailored coaching to protect the safety of individual defenders and NGOs, to allow them to start innovative and sensitive initiatives and to adapt and sustain their human rights work in situations of conflict or hostile environments, and in transitions towards democracy.