At LEF, participatory grantmaking is not symbolic. Community members shape funding calls and review applications, while we provide the due diligence and administrative support to make those decisions viable even in restrictive contexts.
Read the full blog: legalempowermentfund.org/commentary/h...
LEF supports grantee partners to strengthen how they document injustice, engage the public, and expand the reach of their legal work. We’re sharing reflections from two teams on what this support has meant.
Read more: legalempowermentfund.org/updates/lef-...
At the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance convening, LEF Director Atieno Odhiambo, emphasized that climate resilience requires justice. Without access to justice, communities lack the leverage to shape climate transitions. Climate funding must shift power to the front lines if solutions are to endure.
13.02.2026 14:33 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Community organizing in the streets of Minneapolis shows what solidarity looks like at scale. Here are four things activists everywhere can learn from the movement in Minnesota.
11.02.2026 17:25 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The Legal Empowerment Fund is partnering with the Clooney Foundation for Justice and local organizations to support the next cohort of Waging Justice for Women Fellows, accompanying women lawyers advancing gender justice across Africa.
Meet the new fellows: cfj.org/news/clooney...
Communities living around Kitubulu Central Forest Reserve in Uganda resisted plans to build a “mini city” inside the forest. Youth for Green Communities helped them lead a campaign that cancelled the “mini city” project. A major win for environmental justice.
Learn more about YGC: ygcug.org
Together with organizations who support human rights defenders around the world, we are calling on the UK Government to consult defenders on local implementation and commit to transparent monitoring and review processes.
Read the full joint statement and calls: bit.ly/4p06tcI
As threats to human rights and environmental defenders escalate, the UK’s new guidance marks a worrying step back. Key commitments are missing, and clarity on embassy support is lacking.
Full joint statement: bit.ly/4p06tcI
For #HumanRightsDay, we asked partners to reflect on what human rights mean to them. This is what they said. Watch and share the video.
Today only, you can make three times the difference for activists by making a gift: bit.ly/48Uq5u1
Lamu communities spent more than a decade fighting a coal plant with persistence and legal knowledge — and they won.
Read the full story: legalempowermentfund.org/stories/how-...
As COP30 continues, we’re spotlighting frontline activists who are showing that real climate solutions come from those most affected by the climate crisis—rooted in lived experience, collective rights, and deep understand of the world’s most threatened ecosystems.
19.11.2025 16:22 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Protesters at COP30 hold signs saying "kick big polluters out" and "kick out the suits".
A group of anti-riot officers in Belem, Brazil, during a protest.
Last weekend, FGHR and LEF grantee partners joined thousands marching at #COP30 in Belém, Brazil, to demand an end to fossil fuels and the legal recognition of Indigenous land rights. Despite heavy police presence, communities stood firm. Their message: “The answer is us.”
19.11.2025 16:22 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Across Southeast Asia, communities are defending land and water in the face of shrinking civic space and rising authoritarian pressure. Organizers met in Manila to strengthen strategies and build cross-border solidarity.
Read the full reflection: legalempowermentfund.org/updates/sout...
Make a gift today and help stop the spread of repression and protect fundamental freedoms. Donate now and your gift will be doubled up to $100,000 until December 31, 2025.
18.11.2025 16:29 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Image 2: Participants in a program with FANARAT, an organization championing women's rights in post-war Syria. Credit: FANARAT
Image 1: A woman in Manila celebrates the arrest of former President Duterte on an ICC warrant. Credit: Raffy Lerma.
Image 3: Young people from rural communities building the skills to fight corruption at Nagrik Shala, meaning 'Democracy School', in Gujarat, India. Credit: Nagrik Shala
From families seeking justice in the Philippines to women defending their rights in Syria and youth in India confronting corruption, community groups are driving bold change despite growing challenges—and are showing what’s possible when those most affected have the resources to defend their rights.
18.11.2025 16:29 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Across the world, activists are facing growing repression and barriers to funding. With your support, movements can keep pushing for justice and face down rising authoritarianism.
18.11.2025 16:29 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
At #COP30, Girls for Climate Action are amplifying youth and feminist voices for climate justice — from accountability to the realities of displacement.
Their work shows what empowerment looks like when that most affected lead the way.
Learn more: forms.gle/7ZDA3s9UpA72...
From the People’s Summit at #COP30, Colectivo Casa from Bolivia shared: “In official COP spaces, women and Indigenous Peoples are rarely heard. Today, we come together to demand climate justice and respect for collective rights.”
12.11.2025 17:19 — 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
The Fund for Global Human Rights and The Legal Empowerment Fund stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples who continue to protect the planet, advocate for their rights, and lead the way toward a just and sustainable future.
Read the full statement below.
Kenya’s High Court has affirmed the right of transgender people to self-identify after six years of advocacy led by Amka Africa.
For LEF, this win shows how justice grows when people can shape the law.
Learn more about Amka Africa's work: legalempowermentfund.org/updates/lef-...
Learn more about how Syrian activists are standing together in solidarity—sowing the seeds of a growing movement and laying the foundation for lasting progress. bit.ly/492o9Ab
04.11.2025 13:25 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
When we began supporting frontline human rights groups in Syria in 2021, our goal was to help movements survive the war and work for peace. Since then, much has changed.
Today, after the Assad regime’s downfall, the courage & determination of Syrian civil society are on full display. bit.ly/492o9Ab
At a convening in Panama, justice groups from Brazil, Mexico, and the U.S. explored how solidarity can reshape systems that have excluded and punished.
Read more on LEF’s website:
legalempowermentfund.org/commentary/t...
The Legal Empowerment Fund has launched its first newsletter—sharing stories, updates, and lessons from across the legal empowerment movement.
Subscribe to receive reflections and highlights from grantee organizations advancing justice worldwide:
legalempowermentfund.org/subscribe-st...
Today, we are sharing our strengthened strategy and identity.
Amid huge challenges for human rights, we've been unpacking our place in this turbulent global context and preparing for the important work ahead.
Read more from @gabucher.bsky.social: fundhumanrights.org/updates/investing-in-hope/
The Foundation for Youth Empowerment and Advocacy, a grantee partner of the LEF, continues its legal empowerment workshops in Kapiario, Sierra Leone—reaching 30 activists, mostly women and youth, with practical knowledge on legal frameworks tied to climate justice and community action.
09.10.2025 12:44 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
We are concluding a 4-day convening in Manila with the LEF’s Southeast Asia cohort, focused on land and environmental justice. The convening centred cross-border learning and community power. Learn more about the cohort: tinyurl.com/3nhjyujy
Reflections from the convening to follow soon.
What happens when ancestral knowledge meets cutting-edge tech and legal know-how? In Tamil Nadu, fisherfolk and activists are working together to defend coastal sand dunes—ecosystems that saved lives during the 2004 tsunami.
Watch the video below and read the full story: bit.ly/4pgy9vd
“What’s the use of money with no water?”
Developers are bulldozing sand dunes that have protected community water supplies for centuries in Tamil Nadu, India. But activists and fisherfolk are working together to defend the dunes. And it’s working. Watch our new video and share to expose the story.
Picture: Grantee partners at the LEF-CYP Climate Justice Fund launch meeting in Uganda.
18.08.2025 16:38 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
