On a range of issues, affecting diverse populations, we support groups that speak out and litigate on behalf of communities who face discrimination—at work, on the street, in access to health care and other public services, or before the law.
The Open Society Foundations supports efforts to change discriminatory laws, practices, and attitudes that hinder full equality and inclusion of persons with disabilities in their communities.
George Soros and the Open Society Foundations are the leading private funder of efforts to support Europe’s estimated 10 to 12 million Roma people.
Today our Roma Initiatives Office focuses on building the capacity of an emerging generation of young men and women to take a leadership role in their communities, providing training and educational opportunities to be a force for social change. We support local grassroots organizations that work to secure better access for Roma to health care, education, and other public services.
Open Society-U.S. support groups that work on a range of issues affecting communities of color, including the racial wealth gap, a justice system that disproportionately incarcerates African Americans, and overly punitive school discipline policies. We have also focused on efforts to improve opportunities for Black men and boys in the United States, and to support the development of the next generation of minority communities across the country.
An estimated 14 million people around the world are stateless—often lacking the identity documents they need to secure access to public services such as health care and education. The Open Society Justice Initiative has taken a global lead in pursuing legal action to address statelessness, which can fuel conflict and exclude entire communities from access to their rights.
Our Human Rights Initiative funds a range of LGBTI advocacy organizations, and supports groups that are advancing rights in areas such as the legal recognition of gender fluidity.
Concerns over terrorism and a rise in ethnic nationalism have fueled intolerance and sometimes violence toward both migrants and minorities in Western Europe and the United States. In the United States, we have responded by funding efforts to better document and track hate crimes, while in Europe we promote the successful integration of new migrants into host communities.
Open Society’s Human Rights Initiative is working with our African regional foundations to end discrimination and violence targeting people with albinism, which affects an estimated one in five thousand people in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Justice for All
Q&A: A Different Approach to Disability
Gerard Quinn, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of People with Disabilities, explains how he’s using his office to boldly push for a more inclusive world.
Worker Rights Are Human Rights
Q&A: Women Workers in Fast Fashion Demand Justice
Despite being among the most exploited laborers in the world, garment workers in the fast fashion industry are at the forefront of the movement to reform globalization so it protects and empowers workers.
Albinism in Africa In Depth
“We Are Tired of Being Ignored”
Following a brutal murder in Mali, one of Africa’s most celebrated artists helped rally a movement to defend the rights of people with albinism, and organized a defiant musical festival unlike anything the world had ever seen.