Annual Report 2022
13

Donors and Finances

As in recent years, in 2022 the OMCT continued to grow and strengthen – in terms of capacity and impact. Our budget has increased, mainly due to our response to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly on people deprived of their liberty worldwide.

But the need and urgency for our work has increased as well, with 2022 also being marked by our efforts in relation with the crisis in Afghanistan and Ukraine. Against this backdrop of global instability, attacks on human rights defenders have escalated, further undermining human rights around the world.

Many of our supporters and partners are responding with crucial support to strengthen local anti-torture organisations and ensure that our work together continues.

In 2022, we were also extremely heartened by the new and increased level of support from individuals joining our cause, bringing our total contribution from individual donors to over CHF 100,000.

Institutional Donors

Foundations and other partners

Misereor-KZE
National Endowment for Democracy
Oak Foundation
Open Society Foundations
Open Society Justice Initiative
The Sigrid Rausing Trust
UK Online Giving Foundation
Fondation Philanthropia

Governments and other embassies

Denmark
Finland
Germany
Ireland
Liechtenstein
Switzerland
The Netherlands
The United States of America

International and intergovernmental organisations

European Commission
Special Fund of the OPCAT (United Nations)
UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture

Local grants (cantons, cities and municipalities in Switzerland)

City of Geneva
Municipality of Bernex
Municipality of Meyrin
Municipality of Troinex
Republic and Canton of Geneva

Individual donors

The work of the OMCT is primarily made possible by contributions from institutional donors, for specific projects. However, the OMCT is fortunate to have also always been supported by individual donors who share our vision of a world without torture. This support is crucial as it increases the capacity of the OMCT and of its SOS-Torture Network members to respond to crisis situations around the world.

Individual donations to the OMCT are used mainly:

  • to support victims of torture to recover from their injuries, seek justice, retrieve their dignity and rebuild their lives;
  • to monitor places of detention where children are deprived of their liberty and protect them from inhuman treatment;
  • to respond quickly to crises and urgent requests from anti-torture organisations;
  • to investigate violations and conduct new research on people most vulnerable to torture (women, children, minorities, refugees, etc.);
  • to protect human rights defenders and their organisations around the world, enabling their anti-torture and other human rights work to continue.

Thanks to this growing support the OMCT has invested in our network and key areas of expertise: supporting country projects with members on Covid-19 in detention, creating better tools to assess and measure the risk of torture worldwide, deepening our work against the “censorship by detention” of human rights defenders – and encouraging investment in their welfare, and seeking to strengthen our new regional groups of litigators following their landmark legal victories against torture and ill-treatment.

None of this would have been possible without our donors, partners, volunteers, interns and sponsors. For this support we are deeply thankful and better equipped for what the future can bring.

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