International Development Grant

Mobilizing parliamentarians as defenders of human rights and democracy

Project Number: CA-3-P008782001

Status: Closed

Country/Region: Unknown

Regional Focus:

Africa 20%
America 20%
Asia 20%
Oceania 20%
Europe 20%

Maximum Contribution: $650,000.00

Start Date: March 24, 2020

End Date: March 31, 2023

Duration: 3.0 years

Project Description

This project aims to increase society's resilience in the face of threats to democracy and human rights violations. Project activities include: (1) recruiting parliamentarians to be part of a parliamentary rapid response team; (2) liaising with parliamentarians in at-risk countries and disseminating “urgent action alerts” recommending advocacy and legislative action as situations arise; (3) developing a global parliamentary code of democratic conduct for members of parliament and monitoring commitment to it; (4) develop and disseminate a “parliamentary toolkit for democracy advocacy”; (5) organize workshops with stakeholders on topics such as digital democracy combating misinformation gender and democracy; and (6) working with individual members of parliament to customize legislative reform implementation plans.

Expected Results

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) increased effectiveness of parliamentarians in protecting democracy and political inclusion human rights freedom of expression and association; (2) promoted the integrity of political discourse; (3) combatted threats to democracy posed by deliberate misinformation and violence against women parliamentarians.

Progress & Results Achieved

Results achieved as of October 2023 include: (1) defended over 1 160 vulnerable members of parliament journalists human rights defenders and other marginalized populations; (2) undertaken 60 actions (global declarations and bilateral and regional actions security systems put in place) to protect and stop politically-motivated prosecutions against members of parliament; (3) secured 112 signatories (52 men and 60 women) from 50 countries on the Democratic Code of Conduct which obliges parliamentarians to defend democratic dialogue and combat disinformation; (4) developed and disseminated the Parliamentary Toolkit for the Defense of Democracy including training for 110 parliamentarians; and (5) launched a global campaign to end violence against women parliamentarians including in-depth support for 10 women parliamentarians facing gender-based violence.

Key Information

Executing Agency:
Parliamentarians for Global Action

Reporting Organization:
Global Affairs Canada

Program:
YFMInternaAssistPartnershp&Programing Br

Last Modified:
September 19, 2025

Development Classifications

DAC Sector:

Democratic participation and civil society 100%

Aid Type: Project-type interventions

Collaboration: Bilateral

Finance Type: Aid grant excluding debt reorganisation

Selection Mechanism:
Foreign Affairs and Trade Gs&Cs

Policy Markers
Level 1 Gender equality
Level 2 Participatory development and good governance
Budget Breakdown
2019-04-01 to 2020-03-31 $650,000 CAD
Geographic Information
000";Budget Type:Original;Start Date:2020-04-01;End Date:2021-03-31;Value Date:2020-03-24;Value:"$263
Project Number: CA-3-P008782001