Open Society Foundations

On #HumanRightsDay, we are reaffirming our vision for a shared humanity where everyone can thrive, and our continued role as the world’s largest private funder promoting rights, equity, and justice. Binaifer Nowrojee, president of the Open Society Foundations, said: “Across the world, we are seeing inspiring and powerful movements working to shape a future framed by human rights. Standing with them as allies, we will deepen, broaden, reimagine and catalyze efforts to advance a new vision of human rights that is not bounded by historic double standards, exclusions and inequities.” The commitments include multi-year investments across a broad range of issues and geographies, including: ◼️ Rights protection: Supporting human rights advocacy as well as protection of rights defenders at risk, particularly environmental and women’s groups ◼️ Inclusion: Ensuring marginalized and vulnerable groups can fully exercise their rights without fear of violence or discrimination ◼️ Public safety: Promoting communities-centered approaches to tackling repressive or militarized responses to violence and public safety ◼️ Accountability: Supporting human rights-based litigation in national, regional, and international courts ◼️ Political participation: Supporting new champions and non-partisan movements of inclusive and accountable democratic practice in specific countries and globally ◼️ Economic rights: Developing and promoting new state-led economic models for a green transformation to advance economic and social rights In 2025, Open Society will be approving further programming to promote rights, equity, and justice. Read more: https://osf.to/3OP1vzZ

Happy New Year! Now and throughout the year, let’s work together to defend and ensure human rights for all. A couple releases a lantern to mark the arrival of the New Year in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on January 1, 2024. © Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty

Celebrate open society this holiday season. Now and throughout the year, let’s work together to defend and ensure human rights for all. Two young ballerinas embrace on stage ahead of a performance in London on October 26, 2024. © Alishia Abodunde/Getty

Human rights defenders face grave risks for their work advocating for a better world. 300 defenders were killed in 2023 alone, and 3,000 over the past decade. We are backing new ways to support people who courageously tackle human rights abuses—such as mobilizing a protective social web around them. We believe those on the frontlines of struggles for democracy, equity, and justice should not be left alone. They advocate for justice in their communities. They stand with Central American villagers demanding fair compensation from mining companies that pollute their drinking water. They speak out against the persecution of LGBTQI people in Uganda and extrajudicial killings in Mexico. Learn about our work to build coalitions at the local level and support human rights defenders from Sharan Srinivas, who leads our work on protecting rights defenders: https://osf.to/3Bu4SJL #OpenSociety #HumanRights #EnvironmentalRights #EnvironmentalDefenders #HumanRightsDefenders

Congratulations to the 2024 Soros Justice Fellows! These 14 fellows’ projects aim to curb mass incarceration and ensure a fair and equitable justice system in the U.S. The 2024 Fellows: Catherine B.esteman and Brandon Brown will educate, coordinate, and interrupt the flow of people into prisons through a robust, reparative, healing alternative to incarceration. Claudia Muñoz-Castellano will educate and create a Texas legal empowerment program to combat the alarming rise in criminalizing immigrants. Deborah Small will study local efforts to “reimagine public safety,” focusing on their effectiveness. Elizabeth G. Kennedy, Ph.D. will research deportees to El Salvador and Honduras, focusing on youth, indigenous, Garifuna, and LGBTQI+ communities and sexual and gender-based violence survivors. George Morton will establish an initiative that elevates Black narratives and fosters the transformation of Black people as artists and art subjects. Gina Jackson and Lea Wetzel will build a national model of peer support and best practices for missing and murdered Indigenous Womxn (MMIW/G). Kelly Davis will research the needs and experiences of incarcerated pregnant people to inform and advance a broader policy agenda. Lauren Faraino will investigate, expose, and halt the unlawful practice of harvesting organs of people who die while incarcerated without family permission. Laverne Thompson will craft a dynamic community archive of advocates and visionaries’ groundbreaking efforts in criminal justice reform in Louisiana. Nia Lee will lead a national series for justice-impacted Black and Brown queer women, femmes, trans, and gender-expansive individuals to create dialogue, community building, and transformative justice spaces. Temi Mwale will examine how technology produces state violence and harm through the criminalization of Black communities, especially in the U.S., UK, and Brazil. Tijanna Eaton will support authors who have been incarcerated with wraparound coaching and services to develop books sharing their vital stories. Learn more: https://osf.to/4iIpP4g #OpenSociety #JusticeFellows #SorosJusticeFellows #SocialChange #EconomicJustice #SocialJustice #RacialJustice #Fellowships

On #InternationalMigrantsDay, we appreciate those places that are coming together to welcome newcomers. One such place is Tulsa, Oklahoma, where groups, including those with our support, are uniting to make it one of the most welcoming places in the U.S. for immigrants and refugees. With funding from us and the Lesher Family Foundation, YWCA Tulsa worked with a local driving school to teach Afghan refugee women to drive, learn road signs, and speak English. Now, the women have the means to reach jobs, go to appointments, and take their children to school. Read more about Tulsa’s welcome in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. #OpenSociety #Tulsa #Oklahoma #Refugees #RefugeesWelcome

1. Defend communities and organizations most vulnerable to authoritarian attacks 2. Defend against abuses of power 3. Build durable grassroots, pro-democracy power Philanthropy can stand for democracy in these three ways, writes our Laleh Ispahani with Deepak Bhargava of the Freedom Together Foundation and Joe Goldman of the Democracy Fund. Read more: https://osf.to/3VEW7mV

“On one level, everything is our choice; on another level, we feel incredibly powerless.” This is the central contradiction in contemporary life that democracy is contending with, says Open Society Board member Ivan Krastev in an interview with Carlos Bravo Regidor in the latest issue of The Ideas Letter. Read the full interview plus other pieces and subscribe for free.

The Open Society Foundations have never shied away from working in repressive contexts and we have supported human rights causes that no one else would. Pedro Abramovay, our vice president of Programs, explains how we’re embracing new approaches to grant giving around the world. To meet this moment, we are rethinking how we do our work and where we place our attention. What’s different? ◼️ New time-bound goals ◼️ Continued strategic litigation and impact investing ◼️ New geographic leads ◼️ Restructured advocacy to focus on local priorities ◼️ More diverse and intersectional grants Read more about our new approach: https://osf.to/49ub00Z #OpenSociety #HumanRights

The government called it a ghetto. They called it home. Meet residents of Mjølnerparken in Denmark, where hundreds have been forced to leave their homes as the result of race-based government policies aimed at eradicating so-called “parallel societies.” https://osf.to/3VbU613