Summary of the year 2021
The KIOS Annual Report 2021 shows how activists managed to continue their human rights work, even in the situation where Covid-19 pandemic was still ongoing. In 2021, KIOS funded 41 human rights projects of programmes in East Africa and South Asia.
KIOS focused its funding on the protection and promotion of the rights of persons who are in a vulnerable position or marginalized. Such groups included, for example, refugees and migrants, Dalits, sexual and gender minorities, victims of human rights violations, and human rights defenders.
In Finland, KIOS handled several themes, for example the impact the pandemic has had on society and civic freedom.
The Year 2021 in Numbers
- 41 KIOS grants were ongoing
- 23 in East Africa
- 18 in South Asia
Some results from 12 grants, which ended in 2020
- 24 303 direct beneficiaries
- 18 112 right holders received human rights training
- 2 194 people received legal aid or counselling
- 14 strategic litigation cases
What are strategic litigation cases? Strategic litigation involves selecting and bringing a case to the courtroom with the goal of creating broader changes in society. This means that strategic litigation cases are as much concerned with the effects that they will have on larger populations and governments as they are with the end result of the cases themselves. When it is successfully used, strategic litigation can bring groundbreaking results. It can spring a government into action to provide basic care for its citizens, guarantee the equal rights of minorities, or halt an environmentally damaging activity.
