The In Focus segment of IHRFG's e-newsletter, Human Rights Funding News (HRFN), features lead articles by IHRFG members, spotlighting human rights issues and grantmaking strategies:

Philanthropy in the Arab Region at the Dawn of a New Era - Contributed by Dr. Elie Abouaoun, Executive Director, Arab Human Rights Fund

Innovative Funding Collaborative Tackles the Death Penalty in the United States - Contributed by Martha Toll, Executive Director, Butler Family Fund

Recognizing the Power of the Local in Preventing Human Rights Abuse - Contributed by Carolyn Hayman, Chief Executive, Peace Direct

How Philanthropy Can Sustain the Occupy Movement - Contributed by Loloa Ibrahim, Communications Manager, Funders Network on Transforming the Global Economy

Supporting Local Communities to Defend Their Resource Rights - Contributed by Jaron Vogelsang, Program Officer Africa, American Jewish World Service

Inclusive Democracies Require Voting Rights for People with Disabilities
Contributed by Aryeh Neier, President, Open Society Foundations

Cultural Competency in Human Rights Grantmaking: What's Power Got To Do With It? Examining Our Effectiveness in Working Across Cultures
Contributed by Rajasvini Bhansali, Executive Director, IDEX

Evaluating Social Change
Contributed by Saulo Araujo, Program Coordinator for Latin America, Grassroots International

Human Rights and International Justice - Challenges and Opportunities at an Inflection Point Contributed by Jonathan Fanton and Zachary Katznelson

Stop Torture in Health Care - A New Campaign Tackles Abuse in Medical Facilities
Contributed by Lydia Guterman, Campaign Coordinator, Open Society Foundations

Ideas Can Also Kill: A Way Forward for Human Rights Grantmakers in an Era of Arab Transformation
Contributed by Bahey eldin Hassan, Member of the Board of the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders, and Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

Human Rights Philanthropy and the Ten-Year Legacy of 9/11: Where From Here?
Synopsis of the Opening Plenary of IHRFG’s Conference - July 2011

Lessons from Fukushima: An Unconventional Role for Philanthropy
Contributed by Paul Carroll, Program Director, Ploughshares Fund

Bridging Divides in Human Rights Grantmaking Through Innovative Partnerships
Contributed by Martha Toll, Butler Family Fund; Kirsten Levingston, Ford Foundation; and Sue Simon, U.S. Human Rights Fund

Beyond Charity: Connecting Rights and Development
Contributed by Catherine Townsend, Program Officer, Disability Rights Initiative, Wellspring Advisors

Tackling Corporate Accountability
Contributed by Lesley Carson, Program Director, International Human Rights, Wellspring Advisors and Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director, Wallace Global Fund

A New Paradigm of Collaboration with Indigenous Peoples
Contributed by Evelyn Arce, Executive Director, International Funders for Indigenous Peoples 

Shackling of Pregnant Inmates - A Violation of Human Rights
Contributed by Krishanti Dharmaraj on behalf of The Peace Development Fund

The Practice of Human Rights Grantmaking
Contributed by Rajasvini Bhansali, Executive Director, IDEX

Political Earthquakes in the Arab World
Contributed by Judy Barsalou, Representative, Middle East and North Africa, Ford Foundation Hanny Megally, Vice-President for Programs, International Center for Transitional Justice

Funding Local Media, Strengthening Human Rights
Contributed by Manisha Aryal, Director, Internews Global Human Rights Program

A Human Rights Lens on HIV/AIDS Grantmaking
Including an interview with Daniel Lee, Executive Director, Levi Strauss Foundation and Chair of the Board, Funders Concerned About AIDS

Human Rights and the Private Sector
Contributed by Theodoros Chronopoulos, Programme Director of Social Justice, The Sigrid Rausing Trust

Funding Transformative Development through Millennium Development Rights
Contributed by Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director, Wallace Global Fund; Mayra Gomez, International Human Rights Advocate; Bret Thiele, International Human Rights Lawyer; Paul Nelson, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Human Rights Have Moved Online: Rights in the 21st Century
Contributed by Helen Brunner, Director, Media Democracy Fund

The Human Rights Funding Landscape in Europe
Interview with Jo Andrews, Director, Ariadne

Arizona Immigration Law: Funders Experience First-Hand and Respond
Contributed by Robert Bray and Henry Der, Four Freedoms Fund

The Human Right to Peace
Contributed by Cora Weiss, President, Samuel Rubin Foundation

Evaluation and Human Rights Grantmaking
Contributed by Mona Khan, Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, Fund for Global Human Rights

Gender Justice and Human Rights Grantmaking
Contributed by Shalini Nataraj, Vice President of Programs, The Global Fund for Women with Jane Barry, Gender Expert and Consultant

Engaging the UN Human Rights Mechanisms in Geneva and Back Home
Contributed by participants in IHRFG's Funders' Learning Visit to Geneva: May 4-6, 2010

The United Nations' Universal Periodic Review
Contributed by Sue Simon, Director, U.S. Human Rights Fund

Human Rights in Sri Lanka Need to Be on Our Radar
Contributed by Stephen Viederman, Former President of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation 

Funders' Briefing on the Earthquake Response in Haiti
*The following panelists led the Haiti briefing: Nikhil Aziz, Grassroots International; Blaine Bookey, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti; John Harvey, Grantmakers Without Borders; Bess Rothenberg, American Jewish World Service; Walter Riley, Haiti Emergency Relief Fund

An Interview with Sigrid Rausing
Excerpted from Alliance Magazine Vol 14 Number 4 December 2009

Human Rights Funding and National Security Laws
Contributed by Dale Needles, Chief Operations Officer, Global Fund for Women

Human Rights and Juvenile Life Without Parole
Contributed by Sue Simon, Program Manager, and Deji Olukotun, Program Officer, US Human Rights Fund

Respecting Human Rights in Climate Change Mitigation: The Debate about REDD
Contributed by Peter Kostishack, Director of Programs, Global Greengrants Fund

Human Rights and People with Disabilities: Moving into the Mainstream
Contributed by Diana Samarasan, Director, Disability Rights Fund, Catherine Townsend, Program Officer, Wellspring Advisors, and the Disability Funders Network

Philanthropy and Human Rights: Forging Common Ground
Contributed by Julie Gersten, American Jewish World Service, Program Officer - Education (Excerpted from Julie Gersten’s Dissertation for Masters of Science in Human Rights 2008)