The cuts or the reduction in financing to support human rights education programs has an impact on how many people can participate in our training. For example, in Canada, we normally receive around 100 participants each year. Last year, we did the 43rd session of the international human rights training program. Given the restrictions in funding, we had to reduce the number of participants a bit. This has a counter ripple effect when they get back to their communities.
In other contexts—for example, in East Africa and West Africa—the reduction in funding will stifle the capacity to give bursaries to the defenders to implement local actions in their communities. For example, they may not be able to organize a community forum or an initiative to mobilize community members to engage in meaningful ways, with not only the defenders but also the duty bearers, to bring to the forefront the more relevant issues that affect them. This creates a vacuum, specifically for women and other marginalized groups in different communities, when they don't have the necessary resources to implement these kinds of initiatives.
These initiatives don't cost much. With very limited funding of $1,500, it's amazing what a small community can do in terms of engagement, but cutting $1,500 has an impact. It creates a void.