Rapid response funds

It is not possible to defend biomes and forests without defending the people who dedicate their lives to protecting these territories, facing challenges and threats for defending what belongs to all humanity. These human rights and environmental defenders often find themselves in vulnerable situations, suffering constant intimidation, pressure, and threats for carrying out their activities to protect biomes and collective rights. This is the reality of hundreds of defenders, who did not always choose to be in this role, but found themselves forced to fight daily for the defense of their rights and the environment.

In 2019, the Fundo Casa Socioambiental in Brazil launched its Support Programme for Environmental Defenders and Climate Justice: a rapid response fund, enabling direct support to these individuals, so that they could improve their safety and even their health in extremely serious contexts. From August 2019 until today, the programme has provided 286 supports, totaling approximately BRL $3.8 million (approximately US $750,000).

After five years of the existence of the programme, with this report Casa shares the data from this initiative and invites the philanthropic field, researchers, and partners for reflections. The publication  brings together data compiled by an external evaluation, which analyzed a series of indicators related to the period of greatest activity of the programme, as well as articles written by guests that enrich the debate with their analyses and provocations.

Published by: Fundo Casa Socioambiental

Published: April 2024

Download: ‘Rapid response funds: Lessons learned from supporting human rights and environmental defenders in Brazil‘