$100 million to Human Rights Watch

Challenge Grant From Open Society Foundations to Expand Global Presence

SEPTEMBER 7, 2010
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
(New York) – George Soros, philanthropist and financier, today announced a challenge grant of $100 million over 10 years to Human Rights Watch. The grant from his Open Society Foundations, the largest that he has ever made to a nongovernmental organization, will be used to expand and deepen Human Rights Watch’s global presence to more effectively protect and promote human rights around the world.

The grant challenges Human Rights Watch, which accepts no government funding, to raise an additional $100 million in private contributions to match the gift. Human Rights Watch hopes that the combination of the grant and the matching funds to be raised, as well as additional fundraising, will enable it to implement a strategic plan for becoming a truly global organization. The plan will require Human Rights Watch to increase its annual budget from $48 million to $80 million within five years.

“Human Rights Watch is one of the most effective organizations I support,” said Soros, founder and chairman of the Open Society Foundations. “Human rights underpin our greatest aspirations: they’re at the heart of open societies.”

For more on George Soros, see NY Times.com