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
Read more »Image credit: © Olivier Polet/Redux
Drug Policy Reform
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.
Read more »Image credit: © Sebastian Liste/NOOR
Two men who have just arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos watch boats filled with Syrian refugees approach the beach from the Turkish coast. The summer of 2015 saw a surge in the number of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe. The Open Society Foundations support endeavors to assist them as they escape conflict in their home countries and strive for better lives.
Read more »Image credit: © Espen Rasmussen/Panos
Documentary Photography
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.
Read more »Image credit: © Glenna Gordon
After major victories for same-sex marriage in the United States and Ireland, the focus shifts to parts of the world where marriage equality remains a distant dream. In nearly 40 percent of the world’s countries, homosexual conduct between consenting adults remains criminal. The Open Society Foundations support efforts to end discrimination against LGBTI people everywhere.
Read more »Image credit: © Michael S. Williamson/Getty
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.
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Open Society Voices
Two capitals in one: a joint Belgian and European response is how we defeat terrorism.
In a country where violence against media is common, an initiative is creating a united front—and a sense that an attack on one media outlet is an attack on them all.
Events
Apr
4
This event will launch a new report documenting the abuses in drug rehabilitation centers and take an unprecedented look inside these often overlooked and undocumented institutions.
Apr
6
Pushout supports the growing movement to address the policies, practices, and cultural illiteracy that push countless black girls out of school and into unhealthy, unstable, and often unsafe futures.
News
February 16, 2016
| Press Release