NED · CENTRAL AMERICA REGIONAL — 35 grants, $18.3M
Key claim: The National Endowment for Democracy has 35 active grants totaling $18.3M for democracy, oversight, independent media, and human-rights defender work in the Central America regional program.
Abstract
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has 35 active grants in CENTRAL AMERICA REGIONAL totaling $18.3M (public listing as of 2026-07-15). Grantee names are largely withheld for grantee safety (NED duty of care). Sample projects: Fostering Oversight of Government Spending ($200.0K); Strengthening Independent Research and Investigative Reporting on Democracy ($274.8K); Investigating and Promoting Understanding about Chinese Influence ($149.1K); Supporting Central American Human Rights Defenders at Risk ($200.0K).
Why this matters
At $18.3M across 35 grants, the Central America Regional program is one of NED’s larger regional portfolios and sits above most individual Central American country programs — signaling that NED treats the isthmus as a cross-border democracy theater rather than only a set of country cases. Its focus on oversight, independent media, and human-rights defenders situates it alongside country-level work in Honduras and Nicaragua as part of a broader U.S. democracy-promotion footprint in the region.