Project support for human rights and democracy

Civil society organisations (CSOs) are important partners of cooperation for the Government of Finland in the work related to the protection and promotion of human rights. CSOs provide information about improvements or violations of the human rights situation at the local level. They disseminate information and organise training so that women and men as well as local CSOs can better defend their own rights. The civil society makes proposals and creates civil pressure in order to bring about more effective human rights agreements and guidelines that are binding on states.

In addition to the aforementioned cooperation, Finland supports human rights advocates and organisations also financially. Finnish embassies in many developing countries support human rights actors in their countries of operation. Decisions on support to Finnish organisations and international human rights organisations are normally made at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Helsinki.