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<p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) protects and supports human rights defenders
in a variety of ways, including by funding projects through the Magna Carta Fund for
Human Rights and Democracy (MCF) and the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF).
Figures for MCF-funded projects specifically focussing on human rights defenders are
only available from 2016. In financial year 2016/17, the FCO spent an estimated £609,185
from MCF on projects to protect and/or support human rights defenders. The figure
for financial year 2017/18 is likely to be approximately £449,430. These figures do
not take into account work funded from the CSSF or projects which supported human
rights defenders that fall into different thematic areas such as freedom of expression
or freedom of religion or belief. An accurate and comprehensive estimate of the full
value of FCO's work to protect and support human rights defenders would need to take
into account the full economic cost of non-project activities such as communications,
attendance at trials, and diplomatic engagement with overseas governments and state
institutions. Data to allow such an estimate to be reached is not held centrally</p><p>
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