Women carring water from a well

Residents of Khuba Ram, a village in Rajasthan, India, fetch water from a well, a daily unpaid task done mostly by women. How to accurately measure the contributions of unpaid “women’s work” is a problem that has vexed economists for years. One of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals attempts to provide some clarity.

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Image credit: © Michael Martin/laif/Redux
Women mourn at a memorial

Women mourn the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre at a cemetery and memorial near the eastern town in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 2011. The Open Society Foundations work to ensure justice and accountability for atrocities, human rights violations, and crimes against humanity around the world.

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Image credit: © Sean Gallup/Getty
Riot police

Riot police are deployed on March 27, 2016, at a citizens march to commemorate victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels. Across the globe, governments are shutting down spaces for civic engagement. The Open Society Foundations are working to forge a new solidarity that emphasizes our mutual interrelatedness, and keeps our public spaces open and free. Photo credit: © Olivier Polet/Reporters/Redux

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Image credit: © Olivier Polet/Redux
Two men playing a drum

In January 2014, São Paulo launched an innovative new program called Operation Open Arms in an area known as Cracolândia, where many people who use drugs congregate. The new program offers housing and low-threshold employment opportunities to over 500 homeless drug users. The Open Society Foundations support harm reduction efforts for people who use drugs in Latin America and around the world.

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Image credit: © Sebastian Liste/NOOR
Woman reading at a market

Fauziyya D. Sulaiman, a romance novelist in Nigeria, reads a book at the market after dropping off her newest release for sale. The photography from the Moving Walls 23: Journeys exhibition features people from across the globe escaping hardship and creating new spaces in which to make their voices heard. The Open Society Foundations support the right to determine one’s own future, free from the burden of violence, discrimination, or restrictions on freedom of expression.

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Image credit: © Glenna Gordon

Home

About George Soros

Investor and philanthropist George Soros established the Open Society Foundations to help countries make the transition from communism.

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Our Mission

The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people.

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Open Society Voices

When innocent civilians were killed, the military absolved its soldiers of wrongdoing—or declined to investigate at all.

It’s time to imagine how we can shrink the size and scope of police forces, reduce the number of gadgets at cops’ disposal, and constrain law enforcement’s ability to ensnare us.

Events

Oct
29

The Open Society Institute–Baltimore will host a half-day forum focused on issues related to jobs in anticipation of our full-day Solutions Summit.

Nov
1

The Open Society Justice Initiative launches its new report on drug-related violence in Mexico, based on three years of research conducted in close cooperation with Mexican human rights organizations.