Fwd: Update from the Lifeline Fund

Dear all,
This may be of interest to CSOs and HRDs.
Regards,
——-

Dear colleagues,
This email is to share with you that the *Lifeline Embattled CSO Assistance
Fund*, a consortium of 7 international non-governmental organizations
supported by 19 governments interested to push back against civic space
threats – is temporarily expanding its advocacy grant criteria to enable
CSOs to hold governments accountable for violations committed due to
increasing restrictions to civic space during COVID-19

Please share with partners you consider could benefit from this fund.
Best regards,

*Sophia Hernández *
Program Associate
*Civic Engagement & Government **International *

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Danya Greenfield <Greenfield@freedomhouse.org>
Date: Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 12:15 PM
Subject: update from the Lifeline Fund
To: Danya Greenfield <Greenfield@freedomhouse.org>

Dear colleagues,

We hope that you, your team, and your loved ones are healthy and safe. We
are in a difficult moment – due to the impact of COVID-19 on all of our
communities and this critical juncture for racial justice – but we wanted
to reach out to share some new information with you. In response to
increasing restrictions on civic space due to COVID-19, Lifeline is
temporarily expanding its advocacy grant criteria to enable CSOs to hold
governments accountable for such violations. Whereas our advocacy grants
typically fund projects focused on freedom of association and assembly, we
can now temporarily support projects that seek to address the impact of
COVID-19 on a broader range of civic space issues, including freedom of
expression; access to information and accountability; abuse of executive
power; and misuse of surveillance and data.

Attached you will find a summary of the three types of short-term
assistance we can provide – emergency assistance, resiliency, and advocacy
grants. We hope that you will share this information with other partners or
CSOs that you feel might qualify for support, particularly those
representing marginalized communities. For more information, please check
www.csolifeline.org. As always, we welcome referrals from trusted
partners.

We look forward to engaging with you in thinking about more innovative ways
to support CSOs on the front lines of human rights and social justice work
around the world.

Best

Danya

*The Lifeline Fund for Embattled CSOs <www.csolifeline.org/>
provides **emergency financial assistance** to civil society organizations
(CSOs) under threat or attack, as well as rapid response advocacy and
resiliency grants to support CSOs in responding to broader threats against
civic space. Founded in 2011, Lifeline is a consortium of 7 international
non-governmental organizations supported by 19 governments that aims to
push back against civic space threats. The Lifeline consortium is led by
Freedom House and consists of Front Line Defenders, CIVICUS, International
Center for Not-For-Profit Law (ICNL), People in Need (PIN), FORUM-ASIA, and
Swedish International Liberal Center (SILC). Since its founding, Lifeline
has provided grants to 2,222 at-risk civil society organizations (CSOs) in
115 countries. *