Rights & Governance
Focus Areas
The Open Society Foundations support proactive and innovative projects, including monitoring, documentation, and advocacy efforts to further diversity, equality, nondiscrimination, and access to justice alongside other basic civil and political rights.
In particular, the Arab Regional Office supports the rights of minorities such as refugees, migrant workers, and other indigent groups. Other activities aim to strengthen the rule of law, build the capacity of lawyers and legal professionals, further anticorruption initiatives, and increase civic engagement in government accountability.
Geographically, a major focus has been supporting human rights organizations and other civil society actors that monitor human rights violations in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and promote accountability and adherence to international human rights law. In Egypt, the office has supported groups that monitor and document the human rights violations and campaign for improving individual liberties and advocate for legal reforms. In Lebanon and Jordan, the office supports equality and nondiscrimination for minorities and indigent groups such as Iraqi and Palestinian refugees and migrant workers.
