PROTESTSUPPORT
PHONEBOOK
This Vuka! Protest Support Phonebook is a support directory for protestors. Through the Phonebook, protesters(and their allies) can find various types of support from over 30 international and regional civil society
organisations to protect themselves and elevate the impact of their protests including:
Urgent support for protesters (e.g. legal aid, medical aid, trauma healing, relocation, family support, etc)
Urgent support for journalists covering protests (e.g. legal aid, medical aid, trauma healing, relocation, family
support, etc)
Amplifying your movement's messaging through global campaigns networks
Strategic litigation support
Digital and physical security support
Human rights monitoring, reporting, and outreach to the United Nations and other international governanceforumsFunding, training, and strategizing for creative actions, campaigning, and frontline protesting
Use this phonebook as you would any other. Find the services you need, read more about your options, and get intouch with those organizations that look like they may be able to help you.
Each organization listed below is a member of the Vuka! Coalition, a civil society network that strives to reclaim
civic space and incubate new forms of resistance and organizing. This includes fighting for the rights ofprotestors, amplifying their struggles, and working in solidarity with them.

Urgent support for protesters(e.g. legal aid, medical aid, trauma healing, relocation, family support, etc.)

ActionAid
Support provided: Support may include, but is not limited to, legal representation, bail, andsurvival items for those held in detention. In situations where ActionAid cannot provide support,
referrals are sometimes made to partner organizations.
Who can apply: At-risk protesters in places where ActionAid has a national office: Arab Region,
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, Thailand,
Vietnam, Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria,
Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia,
Zimbabwe, Brazil, Guatemala, Haiti, USA, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Australia.

Region: Global
Contact Action Aid throughsignal at +256 779 201 692,
+256 392 220 002 or +256 392
220 003

Amnesty International
Support provided: Amnesty supports those who suffer or are at risk of human rights abuses by
documenting and campaigning against these abuses. The organization issues reports andrecommendations to governments and others in power, including urgent actions during
emergencies. In addition, Amnesty International also provides emergency financial assistanceto those it campaigns for if they are in need of legal aid, medical expenses, or if in danger ofhuman rights violations.

Region: Global
Contact Amnesty’s nearest
office to the country the enquiry
is about. All offices are listed
here

Who can apply: Anyone can apply to most services, even if Amnesty doesn’t have an office intheir country.

Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales
Support provided: Support includes training for protesters and/or their key allies (such as lawyers
and journalists), strategic litigation, monitoring and documentation of human rights violations, aswell as access to an emergency fund for legal and humanitarian assistance.

Region: Latin America and the
Caribbean

Who can apply: People in Latin America and the Caribbean who belong to social movements,
unions, youth movements, women movements, LGBT+ movements, and land reclaiming
movements.

Contact: Complete this form

DefendDefenders

Region: East and Horn of Africa

Support provided: Protesters at risk or subjected to repression may contact DefendDefenders
to share more information about their situation and receive tailored support which may include
legal support, medical support, relocation, or other forms of emergency assistance. The
organization can also provide guidance on security mitigation strategies.
Who can apply: Any protester (or other person falling under the UN definition of Human Rights
Defender) facing risks or threats as a result of their protesting.

Contact DefendDefenders
through their 24/7 emergency
phone line via call, text,
WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram at+256 783 027 611. You can also
complete the encrypted form
here

Freedom House
Support provided: The organization provides emergency financial support to at-risk protesters
in the form of grants up to $10,000 USD for an individual applicant and $20,000 for a groupapplicant to respond to a recent threat or harassment which may include, but is not limited to,temporary relocation, legal support, medical care, prison visits, trial monitoring, equipment
replacement, and physical security support. Freedom House also manages the Lifeline Fundconsortium and the Dignity for All consortium. Consortium partners can provide short-term
rapid response grants to enable CSOs, networks, or movements engaged in protest to advocate
for the right to protest peacefully and enhance their physical, digital, and holistic security toensure continued activism.

Region: Global

Contact: Write to
info@csolifeline.org to inquire
about submitting an application
for assistanceWho can apply: Protesters with at least six months or more of prior demonstrated history ofactivism can apply if the threat has occurred within the last three months. Groups of people
working together can apply; the fund is not restricted to individuals.

Front line Defenders
Support provided: Grants are offered for holistic security support, according to the needs ofthe applicant. Such support is usually offered in the form of small grants which may include,
but is not limited to, medical aid, psychological support, security technology, legal
representation, and relocation. FLD can also give security advice to increase visibility ofemblematic instances of human rights abuses.
Who can apply: Any protester with a proven track of human rights work.

Region: Global

Contact: Complete this form

People in Need
Support provided: Support is dependent on the particular needs of the at-risk or threatened
protester, and may include, but is not limited to, direct aid for emergencies arising from
repression, relocation, and psychological support. Applicants can also seek support in theform of project-based microgrants.

Region: Middle East and North
Africa, Eurasia, Latin America

Who can apply: Any protester human rights defender, activist, journalist, or CSO member.
Contact: Complete thecontact form at the bottom of
this link

West African Human Rights Defenders(ROADDH/WAHRDN)
Support provided: The organization provides funding for a wide range of emergency needs ofhuman rights defenders at risk, including, but not limited to, legal support, medical support, andtrauma healing. In the most dire situations, this can include relocation. They serve as a regional
hub for national human rights coalitions that provides technical and financial support in West
Africa.
Who can apply: Any protester who falls under the broad UN definition of “human rights defender”
whose life is at risk

Region: West Africa

Contact: Download this formand submit it with any
required attachments tohubcities@defenddefenders.
orgWorld Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)Support provided: OMCT—a consortium of over 200 organizations working against torture—provides direct support to human rights defenders affected by torture. General categories of
emergency support include medical, social, and legal support. OMCT also carries out advocacy
to the UN through the Committee Against Torture and has developed a handbook for monitoring
protests and other resources on its website that may be useful to protesters.
Who can apply: Any nonviolent protester affected by torture who fits a broad definition of ahuman rights defender can apply. Precise information on the particular threat or incident willassist OMCT in making a decision about the application.

Region: Global
Contact: Download andcomplete this form and send
it to victims@omct.org

URGENT SUPPORT FOR JOURNALISTS COVERING PROTESTS(e.g. legal aid, medical aid, trauma healing, relocation, family support, etc.)

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Support provided: CPJ offers its solidarity to journalists in emergency situations in theform of grants for emergency assistance which include legal fees, basic needs in jail,trauma healing, or relocation. The organization can provide sessions with experts on
physical and digital security, as well as statements of support and other advocacy forjournalists facing repression.
Who can apply: Any journalist persecuted for their work covering protests or related events
may apply. A “journalist” is defined as anyone persecuted for an act of journalism, which
can include acts like making a news-like social media post.

Region: Global
Contact: Write to
emergencies@cpj.org or
contact your regional focal
person whose information isavailable here

Media Defence
Support provided: Small grants are given to journalists or their lawyers to facilitate legal
defense of journalists facing judicial harassment. Media Defence also provides
consultations on legal strategies and training on media rights to lawyers.
Who can apply: Journalists (broadly defined to include bloggers, citizen media, cartoonists,
broadcasters, photojournalists, fact-checkers, etc.) or their lawyers.

Region: Global
Contact: Complete this form

AMPLIFY YOUR MOVEMENT'S MESSAGING THROUGH GLOBALCAMPAIGNS NETWORKS

Greenpeace
Support provided: Campaign strategy support and amplification of public messaging areavailable to environmental rights and climate justice protesters. Greenpeace will also
express solidarity and issue statements condemning opponents of climate justiceprotesters. Occasionally, legal support to climate justice allies can be provided, dependingon the local Greenpeace office.

Region: Global
Contact your national orregional office through this link

Who can seek support: Any climate justice protester.

Solidarity Center
Support provided: Solidarity Center provides various forms of support to workers,
unionists, and labor rights groups. This includes, but is not limited to, campaign supportand solidarity for strikes and other worker actions, coordinating lawyers and organizations
working on labor law and labor rights, and technical support to those forming or
strengthening unions.
Who can seek support: Unionists, unions, and other organized labor groups.

Region: Global
Contact: Complete this form

International Centre For Not-For-Profit Law (ICNL)
Region: Global

Support Provided: ICNL develops analysis of proposed and enacted provisions affecting thelegal environment for civil society in countries around the world and works with partners toadvance enabling reforms to the legal environment. This includes measures affecting theright to protest. ICNL may be able to provide research on legal measures affecting the rightto protest for use by those advocating for enabling legal reforms or considering strategic
litigation to expand the right to protest. ICNL can also provide advice on how to access andmake use of UN human rights mechanisms and other relevant international institutions. The
organization also issues calls for proposals for projects addressing legal restrictions oncivil society, and through the Lifeline program, provides small short-term grants to support
advocacy to push back against civic space restrictions, or to support civil society innavigating these restrictions.

Contact: For more information
regarding legal analyses of provisions
affecting protest rights, please contact
the relevant ICNL staff person listedon this page. For more information
about ICNL calls for proposals, visit
this website. For more information
about the Lifeline program, visit thiswebsite or contact lifeline@icnl.org

Who can seek support: ICNL primarily works with partner CSOs working to advanceenabling reforms to the legal environment for civil society.

CIVICUSRegion: Global

Support Provided: Documentation of trends in protests and internationalization of protests,
advocacy with protest movements and support provided to protesters to enhance theircommunications, procure basic materials/paraphernalia used for protesters, publication ofprotest materials and other basic support as needed.
Who can seek support: Anyone leading peaceful protests who subscribes to the UN
Declaration of Human Rights.

Contact: For more information contact
info@civicus.org

STRATEGIC LITIGATION SUPPORTInternational Network of Civil Liberties Organisation(INCLO)
Support provided: Working mainly through its member organisations, INCLO promotes
human rights and freedoms. One of the key areas of the network’s focus is protest rights.
Plenty of information on protest rights, including weapons commonly used by state
actors, is available on the network’s website.
Who can seek support: Members of INCLO can seek support. Any protester can accesspublicly available information from the website.

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
Support provided: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights works primarily through strategic
litigation to defend protester rights. The organization also builds advocacy campaigns
around such litigation and protester trials.

Region: INLCO operates primarily
in countries with member
organisations. All members arelisted here
Contact: Write to info@inclo.net

Region: Global

Contact: Write toadvocacy@rfkhumanrights.org

Who can seek support: Any protester.

DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL SECURITY SUPPORT

Access Now
Support provided: Access Now offers a 24/7 hotline with a maximum response time of
two hours. Digital security advice is available in nine languages to anyone who inquires.
Access Now’s policy and advocacy team also amplifies protester causes online. The
organization occasionally provides grants to grassroots and frontline organizations at theintersection of human rights and digital campaigning.

Region: Global
Contact: Visit the link here or
write to help@accessnow.org

Who can apply: Any protester.

Peace Brigades International
Support provided: The organization provides international nonviolent protective
accompaniment for protesters and communities at risk in any country where they mightface repression. Trained international allies will spend weeks, months, or years with at-risk
protesters as a way of disincentivising repression. In moments of crisis, PBI also raises
international alerts on abuses.
Who can apply: Any protesters can seek accompaniment support.

Region: PBI has offices in Mexico,
Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua,
Kenya, Indonesia, Nepal, and Columbia.
Protesters anywhere can make contact
with PBI.
Those from countries where PBI has nofield project can contact theinternational secretariat at
admin@peacebrigades.org. Field
project country websites are found here

Urgent Action Fund
Support provided: Urgent Action Fund’s Rapid Response Grants resource the resilience ofhuman rights and gender justice movements by supporting the security and advocacy
interventions of activists when a swift response is needed. Specifically, Rapid Response
Grants (RRG) offer quick, flexible funding to respond to security threats or unexpectedadvocacy opportunities experienced by women, transgender, or gender non-conforming,
activists and human rights defenders up to US$8,000.
Who can apply:
Security RRG: The safety and security of women or trans human rights
defenders/activists/organizations are threatened as a result of their human rights work
(3 months).
Opportunity RRG: An unexpected moment or opportunity for advocacy or mobilizationthat may result in advancements for women and LGBTQI’s rights, such as changes inlegal decisions, policy, and laws, or a shift in public attitudes and practices (up to 6
months).

Open Briefing
Support provided: Open Briefing provides protest groups, human rights defenders, andother civic actors under threat with rapid access to advice, training, and tools to address
specific safety and security, digital security, and wellbeing and resilience concerns.
Remote support is variously available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Arabic.
Free multilingual security resources are available here.

Who can apply: Any organisation or collective (individual protesters must be referred by
one of Open Briefing's partners.

Region: Canada, Central Asia,
Eastern Europe, Middle East,
Russia, The South Caucasus,
Turkey, United States, and Western
Europe. Applicants from other partsof the world should apply to one of
our Sister Urgent Action Funds

Contact: Visit UAF's website or
send an email toproposals@urgentactionfund.org

Region: Global

Contact: Submit a request or
referral for support here

HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING, REPORTING, AND OUTREACH TO THE UNITED
NATIONS AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE FORUMSARTICLE 19
Support provided: ARTICLE 19 monitors protests, trains activists, journalists and protesters on
their right to protest, campaigns for the right to protest, and works toward a legal and policy
environment in many countries around to meet international law standards on the right toprotest. The organization works within national, regional, and international contexts, including
advocacy at the UN to bring the local realities on the ground to influence progressive standards
on the right to protest. Often activists collaborate with ARTICLE 19 on shared strategies toexpand protest rights and source protest lawyers.

Region: Global
Contact: Request a regional
contact throughinfo@article19.org

Who can seek support: There is not a traditional application or inquiry process. ARTICLE 19 iseager to work with those who are value-aligned through their regional offices covering the entire
world.

Article 20 Network
Support provided: The Article 20 Network defends and advances freedom of peacefulassembly worldwide, encouraging the proliferation of public demonstrations. Protesters arewelcome to get in touch with the organization for opinions on how local and national lawsalign—or not—with Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Who can seek support: Any protester.

Region: Global

Contact: Write tomyrights@a20n.org

Asia Democracy Network (ADN)
Support provided: ADN is a “network of networks” that brings together stakeholders
across Asia working on issues pertaining to democracy, democratic rights, and themesthat fall under these rights. The network bridges governmental, institutional, and otheractors and sometimes carries out advocacy in various high-level fora.

Region: Asia

Who can seek support: Any protester in Asia.

adn@adnasia.org

Contact: Write toCommonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)
Support provided: CHRI organizes international advocacy with organisations across theCommonwealth of Nations, including to the Human Rights Council and other United
Nations fora. The organization also conducts workshops, trainings, and other capacity
building processes and links people to human rights information that may be useful tothem.
Who can seek support: Any protester.

Region: Commonwealthcountries
Contact: Use this contact form

European Civic Forum
Support provided: The European Civic Forum shares resources regarding policy advocacy
and helps in mobilizing allies during political crises or attempts to suppress protests in
Europe, often by convening stakeholders working on similar issues.
Who can seek support: Anyone in the European Union or the Balkans who is aligned with
ECF’s values.

Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe para la Democracia
Support provided: REDLAD reports on and brings attention to human rights violations.
Support from the organization may include monitoring and elevating certain cases to theInter-American system. Protesters can connect with REDLAD to amplify their pushback onviolations of protest rights.
Who can seek support: Any protester in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Region: Europe
Contact: Write to alert@civicforum.eu

Region: Latin America and the
Caribbean

Contact: Write tocomunicaciones@redlad.org or
contact through one of thenational-level member
organizations listed here

FUNDING, TRAINING, AND STRATEGIZING FOR CREATIVE ACTIONS,CAMPAIGNING, AND FRONTLINE PROTESTING

Beautiful Trouble
Support provided: Light funding and strategy consultation for creative direct actions areavailable. Training on action design and frontline protesting can be requested byprotesters. A toolbox with hundreds of tactical tools for protesters is also free in several
languages on the website and in the form of books and games.
Who can apply: Any protester.

Region: Global
Contact: Complete theapplication through this link fordirect action's financial support.
Other services can be requested
here

Region: Global

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Support Provided: In situations where there are violations by private sector actors, theBusiness and Human Rights Resource Centre is able to connect protesters to companies
and help obtain information about specific businesses. The organization can also help
raise the alarm on corporate abuses, link to lawyers, write to human resource
commissions, and engage the media.
Who can apply: Any protester.

Contact: Write tocontact@businesshumanrights.org

HURIDOCS
Support provided: The organization helps protesters work with the information that they
have to build stronger campaigns. HURIDOCS provides tools and mentoring in many
languages to increase protesters’ impact in advocacy, litigation, and information-based
campaigning.
Who can apply: Any protester who falls under the broad UN definition of a “human rights
defender.”Region: Global

Contact: Complete the contact
form through this link

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE VUKA! COALITION
What is the Vuka! mission? Vuka! has come together to help secure crucial short and long terms victories to regain civic space
and incubate new forms of resistance and organization.
How do we achieve our mission? To fulfill its mission, Vuka! seeks to coordinate civil society responses to reclaim civic spaceand mobilize diverse civil society sectors through:1) Increasing the effectiveness of citizen and civil society responses to the global crackdown on civic space throughinformation sharing, coordination and joint action.
2) Increasing civil society’s resilience to attacks and threats by building solidarity across the sector.
3) Identifying, developing, and incubating creative approaches to human rights advocacy, new forms of resistance andorganization.
How is Vuka! structured? The governing structure of the coalition consists of an 18-Member Civil Society Steering Group which
provides strategic guidance and oversight to Vuka! Six Action Teams - (1) Thematic Initiatives; 2) Rapid Response; 3) Counter
narratives; 4) Technology and Security; 5) Research and; 6) Strategic Litigation.
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation - an international alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civilsociety throughout the world - currently serves as the Vuka! Secretariat.
Who are Vuka!’s Allies? Vuka! consists of over 225 organizations and networks spanning a broad spectrum of civil society
sectors.
More information about the Vuka! Coalition can be found on our website here