The Taliban’s oppression seeks to remove women from public life and steal futures from girls. My piece for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on why Australia should take the case to the ICJ:

Australia can lead the international legal case against the Taliban’s violation of women's rights | The Strategist

The Taliban has issued a decree that further enables child marriages in Afghanistan and restricts women’s and girls’ ability to leave such unions. As the repression accelerates, Australia should build...

aspistrategist.org.au

The crises we face today are real. But we know in the communities closest to the harm is where we’ll find solutions. It’s heartening to be surrounded by leaders and community builders from every region of the world at UCLG World Congress. @open-society.bsky.social is proud to be your partner.

Universality was never meant to be uniformity. It does not require that the world speak with one voice. It is precisely the meeting of many traditions—cultural and legal, new and old, on every continent—that gives human dignity its true universality.

The rights we now take for granted—abolition of slavery, the vote for women, the end of colonial rule—were not granted from above. They were won from below, by people who organized, argued, persuaded, suffered defeats, and kept going.

Nearly a decade ago, an authoritarian leader forced CEU out of Budapest. You did not watch the closing of a society from a distance. You lived it, and you persevered. That leader is now gone. Your commitment to open societies continues.

Today’s advocates of dignity and justice understand that the law alone will not save us. I say this as a lawyer who knows that the first international convictions for rape as an instrument of genocide came because the survivors I worked with refused to let prosecutors look away.

To honor the freedoms we were once most proud of, we must defend democratic institutions, protect everyone’s dignity, and resist the lie that rights are zero-sum. One standard—for Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine—because a standard applied selectively is no standard at all.

A multilateral system’s future depends on welcoming, not managing, a wider coalition—looking at who sits at the table, who sets the agenda. The same test falls on philanthropy: Support frontlines. Transfer power. Stand as allies, not saviors.

Recent events, including the fatal shooting at a mosque in San Diego and stabbings targeting the Jewish community in London, show how the demonization of faith communities can deepen divisions in society and lead to terrible violence.

Antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate have flared across the west, with each rising to record levels. But, as I write in the @theguardian.com, these two hatreds have rarely been seen as related dangers—let alone confronted as a common threat to societies.

As I discussed on the @womensagenda.bsky.social podcast, we have to both defend women’s rights and advance them. Having women in leadership positions isn’t a trade-off—it’s win for everyone.

At @open-society.bsky.social, we just committed $300 million to defend freedoms and create economic opportunities for all in the U.S. We are partnering with people who are looking beyond the hard times of today to imagine an affirmative vision for the next generation.

Open Society Foundations@open-society.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We’re doubling down on our work in the United States with a $300 million investment to expand rights, foster economic dignity, and rebuild our democracy.

The U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran was not just a war against the Iranian military. It was a high-speed, systematic assault on an entire society—with little prospect of accountability. We must effectively regulate this new, high-pace, mass-scale of warfare before it becomes the norm.

The U.S.-Israeli Attack on Iran: When Death Comes Faster, and Destruction Becomes Wider

The U.S.

linkedin.com

Prejudice, dehumanization, and violence against Muslims and Jews––fueled by deep injustices in the Middle East––have led to corrosive hate. This week, we were proud to announce a new $30 million, three-year initiative to address an alarming surge of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate.

We are living through a broader moment that demands we name what we are seeing. The organizations and institutions that protect our democracy are under sustained and coordinated pressure.

So great to speak with Dina Chaerani at @womendeliver.bsky.social about how bodily autonomy is the first right women need: “If women cannot control when they have sex, who they have sex with, when they have children, how many children they have—they cannot control their lives.”

At Women Deliver, Binaifer Nowrojee Talked Sex With an Influencer

The Open Society Foundations president turned the conversation into a message about reproductive rights.

laprogressive.com

Congratulations to Open Society President Binaifer Nowrojee @nowrojeeosf.bsky.social for being named one of Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2026 by @washingtonian.com!

Behind each social justice movement lies decades of organizing––women, LGBTQ+ communities, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, care workers, and informal workers building power from the ground up, often at great personal cost. @womendeliver.bsky.social

At Women Deliver 2026, I’ve been inspired by courageous feminists on the frontlines of the fight for gender justice, often in the most difficult situations. From grassroots movements to feminist approaches to tech, thousands of women leaders are moving power where it belongs. #WD2026

Today, I’m thinking of Makan Nasiri, the only child whose remains have still not been found two months after the horrific massacre that killed more than 165 students at the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, Iran on February 28.

Today, we mark South African Freedom Day and pay tribute to the countless South Africans who made immense sacrifices fighting for their own liberation, inside the country and outside it.

The war in Sudan has devastated the country, but it has not broken its people. However, their resilience must not become an excuse for inaction. Courage cannot substitute for justice. Aid cannot replace peace. The world faces a choice.

We hope the ceasefire holds, but can't ignore that conflict continues in Lebanon. @open-society.bsky.social stands with this coalition in affirming our calls for the laws of war to be upheld, especially the protection of civilians, and accountability for those who violate international law.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” These were the words that Hansa Mehta, the Indian feminist and freedom fighter, added to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They affirmed that human rights are for everyone, everywhere.

Open Society Foundations@open-society.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Trans rights are human rights, and that is reflected in the first line of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

I was honored to join the Faith and Politics Institute’s Congressional Pilgrimage to South Carolina to visit historic sites from slavery and the Civil Rights movement. We explored lessons from America’s past—particularly the unfinished struggle for freedom and equal opportunity.

I spoke with Bernd Riegert at Deutsche Welle about the work of @open-society.bsky.social and the values behind it. Our approach is simple: support those working to defend human rights, strengthen democracy, and keep societies open.

Open Society warns of fraying democratic practice worldwide

In an interview with DW, Open Society Foundations President Binaifer Nowrojee says the organization, among the world's most influential NGOs, will continue to support universal human rights amid rising global pressures.

dw.com

On this International Women’s Day, I feel it's important to recognize that the anti-gender and anti-rights movement should, in some ways, be understood as a reaction to progress:

The Open Society Foundations condemn the arbitrary detention and denial of entry of our managing director of Programs, Brian Kagoro, by authorities in Kenya. No formal charges were presented, and no written reasons were provided to him.

Rights are not just given. They are always fought for. In this moment, we’re being called on to fight for them.

More women now are graduating from university than men, and ever more women are taking up leadership roles in many spaces. As the role of women in society, we’ve seen attempts to push women back into “traditional” roles, as I said in at a @munsecconf.bsky.social event.