Over the last year, sweeping cuts to international aid budgets have hit organisations across the board, whilst authoritarian governments are increasingly weaponising the law to cut local non-profits off from their vital sources of international support. The evidence suggests it is obstructing many organisations on the front lines of human rights defence from carrying out their vital work. 

The foundation’s survey sampled around 150 organisations operating in the civil society sector across Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. The majority of these were smaller, grassroots organisations with fewer than 50 staff or volunteers.

Overall, 50 per cent of respondents reported increasing legal needs, a figure that rose to 65 per cent in Asia and 70 per cent in North America. Off those experiencing greater legal challenges, 36 per cent cited new and/or stricter laws targeting civil society as the most significant driver of this increase, followed closely by funding changes or cuts (34 per cent).

Nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of the sample now rank loss of funding among the top three most serious risks facing their organisation, a figure that rises to 81 per cent for those working specifically in human rights defence.

When comparing specific areas of critical legal need over the next 12 months versus the previous year, the survey found that ‘regulatory compliance’ (up 4.5 percentage points), ‘navigating political restrictions’ (up 7 percentage points) and ‘data protection’ (up 9 percentage points) were all now viewed to be significantly more risk-laden. Notably, for organisations working in human rights defence, ‘navigating political restrictions’ was up even higher (11 percentage points) on the previous year.

Kathryn Beck, acting director of Access to Law at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, said: “As governments tighten regulations and funding becomes more precarious, smaller, frontline NGOs – especially those defending human rights – are being forced to divert precious time and resources into simply staying compliant and operational. 

“Every dollar spent firefighting legal and regulatory threats is a dollar not spent on delivering their vital services to communities at risk.  Pro bono legal support that doesn’t chip away at these organisations’ limited funds is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but an essential lifeline.”