Open Society Foundations

We work to build vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable to their people. Community guidelines:

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

The rule of law and human rights are vital to open societies.

How can we imagine a world where international law is meaningful not just with lawyers and diplomats, but with everyone it seeks to protect? James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative @OSFJustice, explains how we build cases to improve people’s lives and rights.

All too often law is used to reinforce and expand inequalities in power and wealth in societies. We help people use the law to change systems for the better, amid a deeply unjust world. Through this work, we’ve successfully protected people deported from the U.S. to countries they’ve never lived in, outlawed racial discrimination and segregation against Roma in Europe, and required governments to take the risks and damage from the climate crisis seriously.

Building on our own cases, the Justice Initiative provides financial, technical, and strategic support to partners around the world who file cases for marginalized people and seeks to foster connections among those practicing strategic litigation.

As James says, “Our privilege at the Justice Initiative is to be able to help people use legal tools in their struggle.”

[Binaifer Nowrojee @NowrojeeOSF]

What changes in governments around the world when women hold political power?

The policies they pursue—on development, on participation, on human rights protections.

When women lead, everyone’s outcomes improve.

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

In two weeks, world leaders and decision makers will come together in New York for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at a pivotal moment of change for the United Nations and the international system.

The UN is under financial and political strain. It will select the next Secretary General amidst intensifying geopolitical competition and wavering international norms around peace, sovereignty, and diplomacy.

Yet, this unique moment also presents an opportunity to bring forward new ideas and perspectives for a changing world. The Open Society Foundations will bring together heads of state, foreign ministers, UN officials, Secretary-General candidates, diplomats, policymakers, civil society leaders, and others to address some of the central questions facing the international system. Discussions will center on three core themes:

1️⃣ What comes next for multilateralism and whether a more equitable system can emerge with leadership from middle powers
2️⃣ As the future of human rights is being debated, what it means to center human dignity and how it can offer a broader perspective on rights in today's changing world
3️⃣ How the consequences of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran are extending beyond the conflict, impacting food and energy security

Stay tuned to our channels as we’ll be sharing insights, ideas, and perspectives through high-level week.

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

Read the essays: https://t.co/t88UYl9y5K

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

Thirty years on, South Africa’s hope immediately after apartheid has been dashed as inequality, unemployment, and xenophobia remain high. Wealth remains in few hands, nearly half of working age people are unemployed, and immigrants have become scapegoats for these issues and others.

In the latest edition of @TheIdeasLetter, William Shoki of @africasacountry, @TamukaKagoro77, @PanasheChig, and @NicDawes discuss the origins of this, the lingering legacy of apartheid, and the possible (and impossible) ways out of this.

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

Inside Open Society looks at the leaders who are advancing Open Society’s mission to promote rights, equity, and justice around the world. With a commitment to amplifying local knowledge, these leaders are supporting innovative solutions to help democratic and open societies thrive.

Learn more: https://t.co/Bmb0jyfAMy

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

The rule of law and human rights are vital to open societies.

How can we imagine a world where international law is meaningful not just with lawyers and diplomats, but with everyone it seeks to protect? James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative @OSFJustice, explains how we build cases to improve people’s lives and rights.

All too often law is used to reinforce and expand inequalities in power and wealth in societies. We help people use the law to change systems for the better, amid a deeply unjust world. Through this work, we’ve successfully protected people deported from the U.S. to countries they’ve never lived in, outlawed racial discrimination and segregation against Roma in Europe, and required governments to take the risks and damage from the climate crisis seriously.

Building on our own cases, the Justice Initiative provides financial, technical, and strategic support to partners around the world who file cases for marginalized people and seeks to foster connections among those practicing strategic litigation.

As James says, “Our privilege at the Justice Initiative is to be able to help people use legal tools in their struggle.”

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

Learn more: https://t.co/uOrwYWUu4a

[Binaifer Nowrojee @NowrojeeOSF]

Powerful states are flouting international legal norms. Both the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the images from Gaza that we’re seeing today are horrific, with the devastation of the Palestinian people being streamed to us live. I think this is a moment of global shame that will stay with us.

But it's too simplistic to say that rights have disappeared or that human dignity doesn't matter. If you only look at who’s leaving the stage, you won't see who’s stepping onto it. Countries across continents are making their voices heard, advancing human rights, equality, and justice: Spain mobilizing countries, Pacific and Caribbean island nations leading on climate, The Gambia taking Myanmar to the International Court of Justice, Barbados leading on debt relief.

The global landscape is shifting.

My conversation with @demorgen: https://t.co/zz6Jmy9qWZ

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

An update from Open Society Justice Initiative’s Natasha Arnpriester: The Trump administration’s forced removal of asylum seekers and people with U.S. orders of protection to countries they have no relationship to continues to accelerate and violate the U.S. government’s protection obligations and international law. Just last week, a 24-year-old Afghan whose family helped U.S. forces fight the Taliban, and who was protected from return to Afghanistan, was deported in shackles to the Central African Republic, a country the U.S. government itself warns against traveling to because of violence and insecurity. He was aboard a flight carrying 70 others, including other Afghans, Iranians, Nepalis, and Nicaraguans.

They are among the 100 people who were sent thousands of miles to eight African countries in the last two weeks—where they have never been and know no one. They are leaving family and loved ones behind, forced onto long flights, not knowing where they were being taken.

Most have already won protection from U.S. immigration judges after facing persecution or torture at home. That protection legally bars the U.S. from returning them to the country where a judge found they would likely face such harm. But the U.S. government is exploiting a loophole. People the U.S. cannot legally send home are sent somewhere else, where many are then returned to the very countries they fled.

These removals are carried out through an expanding web of opaque agreements, struck in exchange for money or other promises by the Trump administration. Liberia is among the latest, agreeing to accept up to 1,200 people.

The Open Society Justice Initiative continues to support lawyers in receiving countries who are challenging these transfers in domestic and regional courts, working to protect people caught in this system. More cases are coming.

@NatashaArnpr @OSFJustice

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

The Trump administration is deporting thousands of asylum seekers and those in need of protection to third countries in violation of the U.S. government’s protection obligations and international law.

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

States, countries, and cities across the U.S. secured $58 billion via a settlement from companies that fueled the overdose crisis. Yet many jurisdictions are shutting out community members from deciding how this money should be spent to combat the overdose crisis—including on expanding treatment, housing, and harm reduction, writes our @OSFKasia. https://t.co/oI8rDJ0iuu

[Open Society-Africa @OpenSocietyAfr]

The Reimagining the Future of Human Rights in Africa: Southern Africa Convening concluded in Gaborone today with a call for stronger protection of human rights, enhanced accountability, and deeper regional cooperation to address persistent and emerging challenges.

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

This effort builds on Open Society’s longstanding presence in the region and complements the response already underway from Colombia’s national government, local authorities, private sector, and civil society groups.

Learn more: https://t.co/JD2HMPC3Nn

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

An earthquake in Colombia’s Pacific region has taken more than 300 lives and left over 30,000 families without homes.

In response, we’re launching a $1.5 million fund centered on equitable, community-led recovery—one that strengthens local authorities’ capacity to distribute resources fairly, gives communities and organizations a leading role in shaping their own recovery, and helps local groups sustain their work well beyond this crisis.

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

To tackle these challenges, service providers, families, communities, and veterans themselves are working to shape the country’s new veteran reintegration strategy.

We spoke with three Ukrainians involved in this work. Read their full stories: https://t.co/f9MOsAwQJQ

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

The reintegration of veterans and their family members—estimated to total 6 million by the end of the war—could boost Ukraine’s resilience, or introduce instability, depending on how the country chooses to address it.

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

Veterans face real challenges still: physical and mental scars, barriers to housing, employment, and education, and difficulty reintegrating back home.

[Open Society Foundations @OpenSociety]

Coca has a rich 8,000-year history in medicine, food, religion, and culture, strong advocacy from the Colombian and Bolivian governments. But despite evidence showing little if any public health harms, the WHO refused to declassify coca as a narcotic in 2025. This is part of a troubling gap between evidence and policy in these global institutions, writes Open Society’s @OSFKasia with Diederik Lohman. https://t.co/xRF52jo5gz

[Binaifer Nowrojee @NowrojeeOSF]

The task before those fighting for universal human dignity is not the restoration of a vanished order, but the patient work of making a better one.

We are the authors of our own stories.

[Alex Soros @AlexanderSoros]

Brilliant piece in our ideas letter by @hanskundnani on the uses and abuses of the term populism in Europe. 😉 https://t.co/4QjBn3KNCw