Amnesty International

The MSFF is proud to be a long-standing partner of Amnesty International, and has supported the organisation in various capacities over many years – from hosting events to providing matched funding for critical appeals.

Amnesty International, Sierra Leone

In 2016, the MSFF provided matched funding to support Amnesty International UK’s appeal to help end female genital mutilation (FGM) and child early forced marriage (EFM) in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone. The success of the match then allowed Amnesty to expand its work to a third country: Senegal, reaching twice as many girls and women. From this appeal, Amnesty is now working with 69 communities in the three countries to deliver interventions against FGM and EFM – using human rights education to empower communities, and change behaviour leading to a long-term reduction in these harmful practices. With the MSFF’s support, by 2020 Amnesty aims to avert 14,814 cases of FGM and 15,156 cases of EFM across the three countries.

Most recently, the MSFF provided matched funding to support Amnesty UK’s ‘I Welcome’ campaign for refugees, enabling Amnesty to reach an audience of 417,000 and double their fundraising income. The ‘I Welcome’ campaign called for a better international response to the global refugee crisis by governments sharing responsibility for hosting and assisting refugees. It also encouraged local communities to work together to create a more welcoming environment for people fleeing conflict and persecution.

“As the lead supporter of our match funding appeal for ‘I Welcome,’ the MSFF enabled us to raise awareness of the conditions and treatment of refugees, and the solutions to help address the worst global refugee crisis of our time.”
Tom Davies, Priority Campaign Manager, Amnesty International UK