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HRF Grants

Notice of Funding Opportunities: HRF Seeks Projects for Improving Human Rights in North Korea

NK Insider

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has announced the second round of its funding opportunity aimed at improving human rights in North Korea. HRF provided grants to five Korea-based civil society organizations last year.

The funding this year will support small-scale, high-impact projects (up to KRW 10,000,000 per project) that align with HRF’s mission of protecting and promoting human rights and democracy worldwide, with a focus on closed societies. These projects should aim to improve human rights in North Korea and enhance capacities of North Korean defectors.

Projects aimed at addressing the following areas will receive priority

  • Strengthening the capacity of North Korean defectors in South Korea
  • Events or conferences aimed at raising awareness of and finding solutions regarding North Korean human rights abuses
  • Creative and feasible projects aimed at safely bringing external information into or out of North Korea.
  • Research/investigation to document cases and evidence of human rights violations with an aim to increase accountability or international awareness

The proposal components:

  • Brief introduction of the organization (goals, mission, membership, etc) and activities over the past two years.
  • Project concepts, proposal background, rationale, goals, project format and content, target audience, expected impact, and publicity plan, explained in no more than 3 pages.
  • Project implementation period.
  • Specific budget.
  • Submit the completed proposal to: seongmin.lee@hrf.org.
  • Email subject line for proposal submission: HRF 2024 NK Human Rights Improvement Project.
  • Proposal deadline: August 19, 2024 (Monday) 23:59 KST.

Other items

  • Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed.
  • Project management fees and indirect costs should not exceed 15% of the total budget.
  • Proposals should be submitted in English.
  • The estimated project expenditure should be clearly explained.
  • Proof of other funding sources related to the project will be positively reflected during the evaluation.
  • Priority will be given to sustainable initiatives that extend beyond the current project’s scope.
  • Optionally, two recommendations from related organizations will be positively considered during the evaluation.
  • Upon completion of the project, submit a final report (3 pages) and a budget report (2 pages).
  • Proposals will be selected based on a comprehensive review of the project’s creativity, the organization’s implementation capacity, the expected impact, and other supplemental materials.
  • Organizations passed the evaluation will be announced on NK Insider on November 30, 2024.

If you have any inquiries, please send them to us through the Contact Form.

To see the Korean version of this announcement, please click here.

HRF is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. HRF unites people in the common cause of defending human rights and promoting liberal democracy. Our mission is to ensure that freedom is both preserved and promoted around the world. Since our inception in 2005, HRF has expanded along three major lines: public education, legal advocacy, and direct support for activists and dissidents living in closed societies. To view a complete archive of our activities, kindly visit hrf.org.


Throughout its history, HRF has focused extensively on pro-democracy and human rights work in Asia, including North Korea. Initiated in 2016, HRF’s multi-award winning program Flash Drives for Freedom has made significant progress in countering the totalitarian Kim Jong-un regime’s self-serving propaganda by making more unfiltered information available for North Koreans in partnership with field-local groups, and the program continues to have a reverberating impact in increasing international awareness of the plight of North Koreans. HRF’s executive-produced film, Beyond Utopia, which follows Oslo Freedom Forum speaker, Korean human rights activist and head of the South Korea-based Caleb Mission, Pastor Seungeun Kim, won multiple film nominations and awards including the U.S. Documentary Compeition: Audience Award at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, enhancing awareness of North Korean human rights globally. In January 2024, HRF launched NK Insider, the first English-language news platform featuring unique perspectives on North Korea, primarily from North Korean defectors, with occasional contributions from others. HRF’s investment in these causes by mobilizing its resources and extensive networks of the global community continues today.

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