Africa Regional Office

The Africa Regional Office works at the pan-African level to build a free and democratic Africa, where leaders respect human rights, work to improve citizens’ lives, and are held to account for their actions.

The African Regional Office works closely with our regional foundations in West, Eastern, and Southern Africa, and our national foundation in South Africa, as well as our regional office in Tunisia.

• We seek to strengthen the quality of political participation in Africa by investing in the democratic process, improving the electoral support provided by the Open Society’s African foundations, ensuring civilian oversight of African security forces, and defending the right of young people to organize and advocate.
• We advocate before, during, and after crisis situations for the most appropriate responses from all those who can play a role, with a particular focus on the African Union.
• We challenge current thinking around economic development and seek to improve access to livelihoods that allow everyone to have a decent standard of living.
• We support changes in African migration policies to advance African citizenship and free movement on the continent.
• We demand accountability for international crimes, with a focus on support for the African human rights system and local justice solutions.

Our team members are based in Dakar, Johannesburg, and Nairobi, as well as London and New York, with policy advocates in Brussels and Washington, D.C.