Apply for CFJ’s Waging Justice for Women Fellowship Program to gain a fully funded opportunity as an early career lawyer, working with leading human rights organizations on gender justice issues. Before Deadline!
Fellowship Program
The law has often been used to harm women and girls, making life unfair for them everywhere. The Clooney Foundation for Justice’s Waging Justice for Women (WJW) initiative wants to fix this.
They aim to change the law from something that hurts women into a tool that helps make things better.
They work with local groups to fight unfair treatment through legal help, strategic lawsuits, and public awareness.
About the Fellowship
We are excited to start the second year of the CFJ’s Waging Justice for Women Fellowship. This program helps train young women lawyers who will work to improve rights for women and girls in their areas.
CFJ and its partners are offering a one-year, fully funded fellowship to ten new women lawyers in sub-Saharan Africa. The goal is to give these women the skills to fight inequality through the legal system. They will work on important issues like improving girls’ education, stopping child marriage, fighting violence against women, and ending unfair treatment based on gender.
By having a fully funded lawyer for a year, these groups can better help women and girls get justice. The program also gives Fellows training, mentorship, and access to top lawyers, judges, and activists from Africa and beyond. We hope to grow this Fellowship and reach more places in the future.
Each Fellow will spend a year working with one of ten leading human rights and legal advocacy groups in sub-Saharan Africa.
CFJ’s Waging Justice for Women Fellowship Program
The Waging Justice for Women Fellowship Program, managed in collaboration with the Legal Empowerment Fund at the Fund for Global Human Rights, offers a unique opportunity to work with top human rights organizations focused on gender justice. Fellows receive an annual salary and engage in strategic litigation aimed at advancing the rights of women and girls in national, regional, or international courts, as well as UN mechanisms. Fellows will be based in the country of their host organization and must have the legal right to work there.
Host Organizations for 2025:
- AdvocAid, Sierra Leone
- Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL), Liberia
- Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance (CHREAA), Malawi
- Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa
- Female Lawyers Association Gambia (FLAG), The Gambia
- Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA), South Africa
- Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), The Gambia
- Katiba Institute, Kenya
- Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU), Tanzania
- Women Lawyers Association (WLA), Malawi
Fellows participate in a mentorship and training program that includes a monthly online curriculum and at least one in-person meeting. This program offers exposure to diverse women leaders and strong peer networks, providing support and inspiration for public interest work focused on advancing the rights of women, girls, and marginalized communities. The Fellowship Program also hosts events with prominent women lawyers and judges to promote women in leadership, celebrate leading women in African law, and discuss strategies to accelerate gender justice and equality. Additionally, the program collaborates with peer institutions, such as the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, to connect Fellows and foster innovative solutions to challenges faced by women and girls.
Application Deadline: August 4, 2024
Eligibility Requirements
Career Stage: Early career women lawyers with less than five years of professional experience post-accreditation.
Accreditation: Must be accredited to practice law in the country of one of the host organizations.
Eligibility Check: Refer to the Waging Justice for Women Fellowship page on our website to ensure you meet all requirements.
How to Apply
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