The Effects of the US Foreign Aid Freeze on Freedom House
On January 20, 2025, the Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid froze all programs funded by US foreign assistance and ultimately led to the termination of more than 80 percent of Freedom House’s programs and activities in more than 140 countries—including projects that supported, directly and indirectly, lifesaving measures for human rights defenders and political prisoners. As a result, Freedom House has had to lay off a large portion of its staff and end its work on vital projects that were relied upon by policymakers, business leaders, civil society organizations, front-line activists, and the general public. The sudden program terminations have also forced the organization to divert some general funds away from privately funded projects, such as Freedom in the World, to cover certain expenses.
Despite these setbacks, we remain steadfast in the pursuit of our mission, and we are adapting to meet the moment. To sustain and strengthen our impact, however, we urgently need private support.
Since its founding in 1941, Freedom House has established itself through its advocacy, programs, and research as the leading nonpartisan American organization devoted to the support and defense of freedom around the world, as well as the leading provider of emergency assistance to human rights defenders globally. Our work counters authoritarian expansion, safeguards and upholds fundamental rights, and helps strengthen security and prosperity, both in the United States and abroad.
Freedom House has been severely impacted by the disruption of US foreign assistance and the termination of critical programs that Congress funded to counter America's authoritarian adversaries and support the global struggle for democracy.
As an implementer of US foreign assistance—including lifesaving aid in more than 140 countries—we are deeply concerned about the brave individuals and members of partner organizations around the world who have put their lives on the line to ensure the success of our shared endeavors, and who are now at great risk after having their resources abruptly cut off.
With the generous support and commitment of our Board of Trustees, our group of Democracy Defenders donors, and others who care about the cause of freedom, we will do everything possible to mitigate the harms from these developments and continue our work well into the future.
Projects Affected
It is not a coincidence that US adversaries around the world cheered the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the termination of hundreds of projects aimed at bolstering democracy and human rights. The closure of these projects—which supported activists on the front lines of the struggle for freedom and provided important and unique insights on how to push back against authoritarian regimes—is a clear win for the world’s dictatorships.
Freedom House’s projects have always aligned with our mission of creating a world where all are free, and helped to reinforce both US and global security and prosperity. Here are just a few of the projects that were terminated or impacted:
- Tracking Dissent in China
Launched in 2022, the China Dissent Monitor (CDM) provides critical information that helps policymakers and the intelligence community understand public discontent and unrest in China—including where it is happening, why it is happening, and how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime is responding. The US funding termination forced the CDM website to go dark for several months, depriving policymakers of information that is vitally important to any well-crafted foreign policy strategy for relations with China.
However, thanks to the generous support of individual donors, we were able to relaunch the project as of June 11, 2025. We are excited to restart this important work, but still need continued support to keep the project running well into 2026 and beyond. Pledge your support to sustain the future of this vital resource.
- Protecting Religious Freedom Across Asia
For the last three years, our Asia Religious and Ethnic Freedom program had supported some 4,000 members of religious minority groups facing discrimination and persecution, and it was prepared to support another 7,000 in the next two years. The program included work to strengthen protections for Christian minority communities across the region, to assist Uyghurs who were forced out of their homes by the Chinese government, and to document violence against other religious minorities. Now, Freedom House and our partners in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Indonesia have been forced to end this much-needed program.
- Combatting Transnational Repression
Freedom House has been a global leader in documenting and formulating policy responses to transnational repression, or the targeting of diasporas and exiles by the governments of the countries they left behind. But a new program approved by the US State Department in October 2024 would have allowed us to work with partners on five continents to develop innovative, effective, locally responsive ways of stopping transnational repression in the places where it is most common and most dangerous for dissidents. This program was terminated less than four months after it began. While we continue to collect data on incidents of transnational repression, study how host states are responding, and provide actionable recommendations to policymakers, the cancellation of this and related programs will set back the United States’ efforts to prevent authoritarian actors from attacking and intimidating people living in democratic nations.
- Providing Lifesaving Emergency Support to Freedom's Advocates
A number of other projects that provided lifesaving assistance were also terminated, leaving aid for hundreds of individuals stranded in various stages of processing and approval. There are now human rights lawyers, journalists, pastors, religious believers, and others facing imminent physical harm and even death due to their efforts to practice their faith, document human rights abuses, expose corruption, or stand up for fundamental freedoms in their countries. These courageous individuals relied on the critical assistance that Freedom House and its partners could provide, and they have been relegated to a dangerous limbo. The people in urgent need of lifesaving assistance include:
Journalists who have continuously reported on human rights violations from inside autocratic states around the world, despite the risk of death threats, torture, harassment, and forced exile.
Activists who have tracked the activities of armed mercenaries operating in their own and neighboring countries, and documented the groups’ attacks on innocent civilians.
Groups of religious believers living under ongoing threats from criminal gangs in Latin America.
Activists in Afghanistan who have risked their lives daily to record abuses by the Taliban regime and protect the rights and freedoms that Americans helped secure, including education for girls. Termination of this project further imperils these activists’ lives and hampers their efforts to challenge Taliban misrule and fight radicalization and terrorism in Afghanistan.
Thousands of ordinary people in Myanmar who became human rights defenders following the military coup of 2021 and the ensuing campaigns of violence and displacement that the junta has waged across the country. Through this program, Freedom House has provided them with emergency assistance, including lifesaving relocation and basic supplies like food. The aid amounted to a strategic investment by the United States—a commitment of time and resources aimed at developing the capacity of our natural allies in Myanmar to counter China’s influence, remain resilient in the face of evolving threats and instability, and lead the country back toward democracy. That investment is now in peril. In addition, following a massive earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand in late March, the project’s local partners have been reaching out to communicate their dire need of timely support. This project would have been well positioned to immediately reach people in some of the most remote and most affected parts of the country, but such a response was not possible due to the termination of funding.
- Monitoring the Global State of Internet Freedom
The annual report Freedom on the Net (FOTN), first launched in 2009, produces groundbreaking research and analysis on internet freedom in 72 countries, and its findings shape government policies, responsible business practices, and civil society advocacy efforts. In March, the US State Department terminated its multiyear grant supporting FOTN, which amounted to 50 percent of the project’s annual budget. Technology companies have cited FOTN when refusing to sell their products to authoritarian regimes, while democratic governments have used our analysis when crafting legislation to protect freedom of expression and access to information globally. Through this project, Freedom House has partnered with more than 200 internet freedom defenders, cultivating a worldwide network of activists, journalists, and lawyers who stand on the front lines of the fight against digital repression in their countries. The termination has heavily impacted Freedom House’s ability to produce this essential research, advocate against digital repression, and support internet freedom defenders around the world.
- Assessing the State of Global Freedom
Freedom House’s annual flagship Freedom in the World report on political rights and civil liberties does not receive government funding. However, the sudden program terminations have forced the organization to divert some general funds away from the report to cover other expenses, and to lay off staff members who split their time between this and other directly affected projects. As a result, many country reports will be abridged for the 2025 edition.
- Evaluating Democratic Institutions in Europe and Eurasia
Launched in 1995, the annual report Nations in Transit (NIT) is Freedom House’s longitudinal study of democratic governance in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. NIT has chronicled both the early successes of liberal democracy and the ongoing struggle against illiberalism, state capture, and authoritarianism in an array of postcommunist countries. The report has provided essential data and analysis for policymakers, academics, and civil society actors. Its comprehensive country and regional overview reports offered fact-based analysis on the democratic functioning of state institutions, thereby serving as a counterweight to false government propaganda, informing policy debates, and guiding targeted advocacy efforts across the region. The project’s funding was fully terminated, forcing Freedom House to halt production of this crucial research and gravely impairing the organization’s ability to support democratic resilience in some of the world’s most vulnerable and strategically significant countries.
Support Freedom House
Freedom House has been severely impacted by the disruption of US foreign assistance and the termination of critical programs that Congress funded to counter America's authoritarian adversaries and support the global struggle for democracy. With your generous support, we will do everything possible to mitigate the harms from these developments and continue our work well into the future.
