Criminal Justice
Street vendor Mayeso Gwanda was on his way to the market to sell plastic bags in Blantyre, Malawi, when he was arrested and charged with being “a rogue and a vagabond.” Gwanda has since filed a constitutional petition arguing that the offense, established two centuries ago by a former colonial power, is outdated, vague, and arbitrarily enforced. The Open Society Foundations support criminal justice reform around the world to help protect those most vulnerable to discriminatory practices.
Read more »Image credit: © Sven Torfinn/Panos for the Open Society Foundations
Discrimination
Public school students protest President-elect Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on November 15, 2016. The Open Society Foundations have launched a $10 million initiative to support and protect those targeted by hateful acts. This initiative is designed to encourage and empower communities to strengthen services and protections for their most vulnerable neighbors.
Read more »Image credit: © Leigh Vogel/Getty
Patients at Nyeri Hospice are treated for life-limiting illnesses like cancer and HIV/AIDS in Nyeri, Kenya, in May 2013. The hospice nurses are trained in providing not only medical care, but also legal assistance with writing wills and dealing with inheritance issues. The Open Society Foundations support efforts to reform drug policies that unduly restrict access to controlled substances that could have medical or scientific uses.
Read more »Image credit: © Sven Torfinn/Panos for the Open Society Foundations
Documentary Photography
Boulevard Lumumba runs through Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2013. Its energy and fragility define a moment suspended between the country’s colonial past and its neoliberal future. Urban Now: City Life in Congo is a photo exhibition that explores this tension, offering an artistic and ethnographic view of life in Congo’s urbanizing worlds.
Read more »Image credit: © Sammy Baloji
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.
Read more »Image credit: © Michael Martin/laif/Redux
About George Soros
Investor and philanthropist George Soros established the Open Society Foundations to help countries make the transition from communism.
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.
Issues
Regions
Grants
Open Society Voices
Archaic colonial era laws originally imposed to control local populations still endure in Africa, allowing police to harass and arrest people who have done nothing wrong.
Bolstering authoritarian regimes risks further human rights violations and populations more determined to escape.
Events
Feb
19
Curators of three exhibitions in Berlin that explore the topic of surveillance and photography discuss the exhibitions’ research approaches, underlying concepts, and presentation forms.
Feb
27
Matt Eisenbrandt joins a panel of experts to discuss his new book, which tells the story of the investigation into the killing of Archbishop Óscar Romero.
News
November 22, 2016
| Press Release