A few years ago, the Norwegian government launched a project to give support to Council of Europe member countries in carrying out the work needed to implement the judgments of the Court of Human Rights. The initiative came from a realisation that many member states faced difficulties in changing their law or national practices simply because of financial or structural obstacles, and that what was needed was a structure to help with capacity building and expert support.

The result was the Human Rights Trust Fund (HRTF), set up in March 2008 within the Council of Europe Development Bank. Its remit is to provide funding for states' efforts to meet their commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights and other Council of Europe human rights standards.

Five countries joined Norway in the fund: Germany and the Netherlands from the start, Finland, Switzerland, and recently the United Kingdom on the occasion of its Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers ; providing seed money to help in building human rights throughout Europe.

More than 6 million euros have been granted so far to finance activities in this respect.