When a crisis or new opportunity arises, women's rights activists look for effective, innovative ways to respond.  Often, activists are unable to implement these strategic interventions due to a lack flexible funds, or the lengthy approval processes of many donors.  UAF was created to fill this specific need for time-urgent funding, enabling women's human rights defenders to act quickly to take advantage of unexpected opportunities, mitigate threats and/or prevent backsliding in their ongoing work to advance the human rights of all people.

Urgent Action Fund provides grants to women's human rights defenders without distinction of any kind as to race, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, political or other opinions, national or social origin.

Read about our grant categories and criteria

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Read more about recipients of UAF's Rapid Response Grants

Refer a group to UAF

Our Grantmaking program staff work closely with colleague organizations around the world, which include fellow grantmakers, networks of women's rights groups and other activist organizations. These colleagues often refer groups to UAF, and provide us with insight to the situations and contexts within which grant applicants operate. We value these relationships, not only for their assistance in our due diligence process, but also for allowing us to share ideas and experiences within the women's human rights movement. Learn more on referring a group to Urgent Action Fund for potential funding.

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