Emergency Assistance for Fundamental Freedom Defenders

Source-based overview

The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) seeks to make available on-demand, emergency support for individuals and organizations that face imminent threat due to their work to promote and defend fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, peaceful assembly, and association articulated in the United States’ founding documents. The program will provide assistance to defenders who are facing threat of attack, arbitrary arrest, detention, prosecution, or are otherwise at imminent risk of harm, through a program that provides short-term emergency funding to enable them to continue their work pressing for democratic government and reform and respect for human rights. The official record contains the controlling eligibility, budget, attachment and submission requirements for opportunity DFOP0019749.

Eligibility

Eligible applicant types listed by the agency: Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification). Applicants must also satisfy every programme-specific condition in the official notice.

Funding and benefits

Award ceiling: USD 983,500

Expected number of awards: 1

Themes and supported activities

The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) seeks to make available on-demand, emergency support for individuals and organizations that face imminent threat due to their work to promote and defend fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, peaceful assembly, and association articulated in the United States’ founding documents. The program will provide assistance to defenders who are facing threat of attack, arbitrary arrest, detention, prosecution, or are otherwise at imminent risk of harm, through a program that provides short-term emergency funding to enable them to continue their work pressing for democratic government and reform and respect for human rights.

Opportunity number: DFOP0019749

Deadline and timeline

Applications close 2026-09-08: Applications close 2026-09-08: Sep 8, 2026.

Applicants should confirm the exact deadline time, time zone, required documents, portal steps and any institutional approvals on the official call page before submitting.

How to apply

Open the official Grants.gov record, review the full notice and attachments, and use the application package or agency route stated there.

Before applying, check eligibility rules, budgets, attachments, page limits, partner requirements, cost-share conditions and whether the opportunity uses an expression of interest, full proposal, registration or nomination stage.