Freedom House’s Global Impact in 2023

Thirty-seven days after it was founded, Freedom House’s initial goal was accomplished.

Beginning on October 31, 1941, the organization’s founders worked tirelessly to convince an ardently isolationist American public to support direct US involvement in World War II. Through massive public rallies and one-to-one advocacy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, Dorothy Thompson, Herbert Agar, Fiorello La Guardia, Orson Welles, and other luminaries made the case that fascism was a clear and present danger to democracy worldwide—and that it could not be defeated until the United States joined the fight.

Just over a month later, on a date that would live in infamy, Japan’s surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor catapulted the country into another great war and transformed it into the world’s arsenal of democracy.

So, with its purpose seemingly fulfilled, why is Freedom House still here?

Because Freedom House’s mission—to expand and defend freedom worldwide—was and is far broader than any one war or political ideology. It’s a mission that has attracted many enemies: fascism, Soviet communism, repressive regimes in South America and Southeast Asia, South African apartheid, and now illiberal democracy and rising authoritarianism.

One does not have to strain to see parallels between our current geopolitical situation and the one of 82 years ago. Authoritarians are reaching across sovereign borders to topple democratically elected governments, violate human rights, and dismantle the postwar order. These threats are being met with restrained responses from the world’s most powerful democracies—including the United States—due to difficult political headwinds and resurgent isolationism.

The challenges have evolved from 1941 to 2023, but Freedom House’s vision remains constant: a world where all are free.

To make that vision a reality, we inform the world about threats to freedom, we mobilize policymakers and leaders to act on those threats, and we support democracy advocates and human rights defenders worldwide.

Here are some examples of how we’ve done so over the past year:

In Ukraine, where the Kremlin’s unjust and illegal full-scale invasion entered a second year, Freedom House provided essential aid and support to human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and civil society organizations to perpetuate their essential work of safeguarding democratic freedoms for all Ukrainians. In addition, we facilitated reform-focused policy dialogues within the country, as well as in Moldova and Armenia.

We reported extensively about the war’s impact on freedom in Ukraine and the surrounding region. The principal recommendations from both our Nations in Transit and Freedom in the World reports were the same: Ensure outright victory for Ukraine, as anything less would be disastrous for democracy there and everywhere. We took this recommendation directly to policymakers in the United States and around the world, fiercely advocating for increased humanitarian, security, and military assistance to Ukraine. Separately, our Freedom on the Net report sounded the alarm about the grave potential for authoritarian misuse of generative AI—a powerful tool that can be deployed to manipulate online information landscapes in authoritarians’ favor.

A year after the US withdrawal from and the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, Freedom House published the Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism’s first-ever report on human rights defenders within the country. Of the 663 human rights defenders surveyed, more than 90 percent said they had personally experienced threats from the Taliban. For this reason and more like it, no country received more funding grants from Freedom House’s Emergency Assistance Program in 2023 than Afghanistan. Activists and civil society organizations are using these grants to help continue the essential work of protecting those most at risk in the country.

In China, Freedom House stepped up its efforts to research and document abuse and overreach by the Chinese Communist Party. Our China Dissent Monitor recorded thousands of instances of public dissent by Chinese citizens against their government this year. The China Media Bulletin provided timely insights on the limits of free expression within the country and beyond. New data from our research team showed that the Chinese government was still the world’s foremost perpetrator of transnational repression, terrorizing dissidents and exiles in other sovereign countries. Last spring, Freedom House officially opened its field office in Taiwan, enabling us to expand and deepen collaboration with individuals and groups that are supporting human rights and democracy in China and across the region.

Freedom House amplified the voices of brave Iranian women who poured into the streets to demand freedom and change in the wake of Jina Mahsa Amini’s death at the hands of the country’s “morality police.” In February, more than 116,000 people signed a Freedom House petition calling for the international community to actively support these protesters. Soon after, Freedom House honored the women of Iran with its annual Freedom Award, accepted by Iranian journalist in exile Aida Ghajar and actor Nazanin Boniadi. Throughout the year, Iranian human rights defenders and civil society organizations received substantial funding from Freedom House’s Emergency Assistance Program.

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