About KIOS
The Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights KIOSThe Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights KIOS is an independent, non-political, non-religious and non-governmental foundation. KIOS works to promote human rights in developing countries, as human rights are defined in the treaties and other instruments of the United Nations, and in regional human rights instruments. KIOS works to promote human rights in developing countries by granting funding to human rights projects. Financial support is provided to local civil society organisations that work for the promotion and protection of human rights in their own countries and regions. Our aim is to especially support the promotion of the human rights of the most disadvantaged groups of the societies. In Finland, we aim at increasing the knowledge of Finnish civil society on the human rights situation in developing countries. The foundation was established in September 1998 by eleven Finnish NGOs working with human rights and development issues. One practical consequence of the personal commitment of the former Minister for Development Cooperation, Mr. Pekka Haavisto, was the initiation of discussions with and between Finnish human rights organisations and the Ministry on creating direct funding mechanisms for supporting human rights movement in the developing countries. The discussions culminated in the birth of the human rights foundation KIOS three months before the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1998. During this time two other foundations working in a similar way were also founded: Abilis Foundation, which supports disabled persons projects in developing countries and Siemenpuu Foundation, which supports environmental projects in developing countries. As a new form of co-operation between civil society and the Government, KIOS has over the years strengthened and supplemented the work carried out through other, more traditional Finnish aid channels. KIOS has been committed to providing local civil society organisations in the South resources to carry out human rights work. At the same time, the foundation has opened up new opportunities for Finnish civil society organisations to participate, and advocate for human rights in the South. The founder organisations are represented in the KIOS Executive Board, which is the supreme organ of KIOS. Executive Board formulates the strategy of the organisation, guides the staff in its work and makes all the final funding decisions. KIOS has a staff of five and an annual budget of approximately one million euros. KIOS receives financial support for its activities from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. The KIOS office is located in Helsinki, where we share office premises with Abilis, FIDIDA and Siemenpuu. Download KIOS brochure here. More information about KIOS funding to human rights projectsProject Funding
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