The first dialogues towards the creation of Brazil Fund were held in 2003 by a group of human rights defenders who took the challenge of finding alternative ways to ensure the sustainability of actions in this field. The idea was to enable the Fund’s work on a setting of human rights organizations distributed throughout Brazil, some of them at risk of isolation and enduring many other difficulties to subsist. Brazil Fund was established in 2006 with the main objective to raise and donate funds for the defense of human rights.

The foundation was created by respected activists and scholars and received a financial contribution from Ford Foundation, through the constitution of an endowment of US$3 million.

Today, Brazil Human Rights Fund’s mission is to promote respect for human rights in Brazil, building innovative and sustainable mechanisms to channel resources to strengthen civil society organizations and to develop philanthropy for social justice.

The Fund acts as a bridge. It connects local organizations and potential donors. It funds human rights defense projects with resources donated by individuals, companies, and institutions. It also strengthens the role of groups working with this cause, enhancing their actions through technical and political capacity building.

The Fund works empowering civil society so that members of vulnerable groups and victims of violations become protagonists of their own causes and are able to defend themselves.

The actions performed by the Brazil Fund aim to give visibility to the role of organizations defending human rights. The process helps to transform reality, and the replication of these experiences contribute to the strengthening of democracy.