Closing date 13/06/2025

Grants are available for locally based community organisations and 'communities of interest' in Northern Ireland to support projects that give voice to excluded groups, and work to advance a fairer and more equal society where the human rights of all are protected.

The funding is intended to support local community groups running projects and initiatives that contribute to peacebuilding, tackle the impact of poverty and austerity measures and/or give voice to excluded groups.

Grants of up to £5,000 are available.

In some instances, the panel may consider grants of up to £15,000.

Locally based community groups and locally based 'communities of interest' are eligible for funding.

The group must:

Be constituted and based in Northern Ireland or working towards being constituted.
Have an active committee and current bank account.
Maintain financial records and present accounts to its AGM.
Provide minutes of committee meetings.
Have at least three cheque signatories who are unrelated.
Have an income of £1.5 million or less.

Eligible CICs must have at least three unrelated committee members and/or the majority of the committee unrelated.

The funding is to be used for costs associated with projects that address at least one of the following objectives:

To give voice and power to those whose human rights are most at risk and to support them to challenge inequality, exclusion, and unfairness.
To provide groups and communities with support to challenge, monitor and remedy inequality and rights violations.
To increase awareness of and contribute to building a culture of rights within and between communities, particularly those most marginalised from decision making
To support communities and marginalised groups to find solutions to contentious issues.

In addition, applicants must show how they will advance and adhere to the values of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Fund (NIHRF):

Inclusive - drawing on human rights expertise, including those with lived experience, to develop NIHRF's strategy, grant making and learning.
Applying a rights-based approach - adhering to the principles of participation, accountability, non-discrimination, empowerment, and legality.
Collaborative - the essence of the NIHRF is partnership and collaboration based on mutual trust which draws on the strengths of the partners who will work together to advance the NIHRF's purpose.
Encouraging Learning - the NIHRF will support learning between all partners, actively encouraging, listening and being open to responding and adapting.
Courageous - groups will approach complexity with courage and ambition and be open to new solutions to entrenched problems.

There is particular interest in projects which focus on peacebuilding/legacy, racial justice, gender, health, socio-economic rights, tech, and digital rights, (including the need for accountability and safeguards), and climate.

Examples of project ideas that can be funded include: