The Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) announced today the 2026 Waging Justice for Women Fellowship, an innovative program that works to develop the next generation of human rights champions in Africa by training and mentoring early-career African women lawyers.
Now in its third year, the partnership between CFJ and the Fund for Global Human Rights’ Legal Empowerment Fund (LEF) grants each fellow a one-year funded work opportunity at one of ten leading human rights NGOs focused on defending the rights of women and girls in Africa.
“Over the past two years, our Fellows have touched thousands of lives across Africa in the fight to advance justice for women and girls,” said Amal Clooney, Co-Founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice. “We’re so excited to welcome this year’s cohort and see the incredible work they will do to wage justice in courtrooms and communities across the region.”
WJW Fellows will challenge discriminatory laws and policies before national and regional courts, provide free legal assistance to women and girls, and support their host organizations with groundbreaking legal research and advocacy. Fellows gain access to a global network of legal experts and, through targeted outreach activities at schools and universities, will help inspire the next generation of women’s rights advocates.
CFJ and the LEF collaborate closely with the ten host organizations, whose expertise and deep community ties are central to the program’s impact. Having a fully funded fellow within the host organization for one year strengthens their legal capacity, enabling them to expand their impact on women’s rights with additional litigation, advocacy, and accountability efforts, while supporting and mentoring early-career women lawyers.
The 2025 fellows worked on over 200 women’s rights cases on issues ranging from gender-based violence to sexual and reproductive health rights, female genital mutilation, and child marriage. They have litigated on women’s rights in domestic and regional courts including winning cases on sexual violence and female genital mutilation (FGM); secured bail, protection orders, divorce and child maintenance for women; and raised awareness of women’s rights engaging with the media, government and other actors. Several have collaborated across countries on their cases. Collectively, they reached over 2000 students through outreach activities at schools and universities on women’s rights and a career in law, inspiring the next generation. The outgoing fellows have now joined the WJW Fellowship Alumni Network, a community of former fellows who continue to advance women’s rights on the continent, and several have been recruited by their host organizations, including as supervisors for incoming fellows.
“Once again, we are honored to support a group of outstanding young lawyers who are driven by a shared commitment to address the systemic injustices facing women and girls, and whose career advancement will strengthen women’s presence and impact within the legal profession,” said Rothna Begum, Legal Advocacy Director and Co-Director of the Waging Justice for Women Program.
To learn more about the WJW Fellowship, click here.
Our 2026 Fellows are:
Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) • The Gambia
Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFeLL) • Liberia
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria • South Africa
Female Lawyers Association-Gambia (FLAG) • The Gambia
Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) • Tanzania
Women Lawyers Association • Malawi
AdvocAid • Sierra Leone
Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa • South Africa
Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) • Malawi
Katiba Institute • Kenya
ABOUT THE CLOONEY FOUNDATION FOR JUSTICE’S WAGING JUSTICE FOR WOMEN INITIATIVE
Waging Justice for Women provides free legal aid to women and girls to defend their rights, including their right to be free from discrimination, child marriage, and violence.
ABOUT THE CLOONEY FOUNDATION FOR JUSTICE
The Clooney Foundation for Justice wages justice by providing free legal aid in defense of free speech and women’s rights in over 40 countries. Its work has led to dozens of journalists being set free and thousands of women receiving free legal support to defend their rights.