Freedom House is a U.S.-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt served as its first honorary chairpersons. It describes itself as a "clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world".
The organization's annual Freedom in the World report, which assesses each country's degree of political freedoms and civil liberties, is frequently cited by political scientists, journalists, and policy-makers. Freedom of the Press and Freedom of the Net, which monitor censorship, intimidation and violence against journalists, and public access to information, are among its other signature reports.
As of 2010, US federal government grants accounted for most of Freedom House's funding. While widely regarded as a reliable source, some critics have accused Freedom House’s reports of bias or of promoting U.S. government interests abroad. However, other evaluations have found reports to align closely with freedom indices from other sources.
Read more about Freedom House: History, Organization, Other Activities, Criticism, Systematic Evaluations, Recognition
Famous quotes containing the words freedom and/or house:
“Humans need justice in the here and now and grace in the thereafter. Justice in the here and now is possible only without freedom, and grace in the thereafter only through the freedom of God.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“The night in prison was novel and interesting enough.... I found that even here there was a history and a gossip which never circulated beyond the walls of the jail. Probably this is the only house in the town where verses are composed, which are afterward printed in a circular form, but not published. I was shown quite a long list of verses which were composed by some young men who had been detected in an attempt to escape, who avenged themselves by singing them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)