Deadline: April 8, 2023
Applications are open for the CFJ Waging Justice for Women Fellowship 2023-2024. Beginning in mid-2023, Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) and their partner organizations will offer one-year, fully funded fellowships to an inaugural class of ten early-career women lawyers in sub-Saharan Africa.
The aim of CFJ’s Waging Justice for Women Fellowship Program is to equip African gender justice champions with the tools they need to challenge inequality through the courts. Each Waging Justice for Women Fellow will spend the year embedded with one of ten leading human rights and legal advocacy organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. These organizations partner with WJW on key issues such as removing legal barriers to girls’ education, combatting child marriage, promoting accountability for gender-based violence, and combatting economic discrimination and criminalization based on gender stereotypes. Having a fully funded lawyer for a year will increase the ability of these organizations to deliver access to justice for women and girls.
CFJ’s Waging Justice for Women Fellowship Program will also provide Fellows with mentorship, training, and access to leading lawyers, judges, activists, and academics from across the Continent and around the world. We will look to expand the number and geographical scope of the fellowship in future years.
Program Details
CFJ’s Waging Justice for Women Fellowship Program will be administered in partnership with the Legal Empowerment Fund at the Fund for Global Human Rights. It will offer fellows an annual salary and an opportunity to work with leading human rights organizations on gender justice. Fellows will support at least one strategic litigation case designed to advance women and girls’ rights in national, regional or international courts or UN mechanisms. Fellows should expect to be based in the home country of their host organization and have the right to work in that country.
The ten host organizations partnering with CFJ on the Fellowship Program in 2023-2024 are:
- AdvocAid, Sierra Leone
- Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia, Liberia
- Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance, Malawi
- Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, South Africa
- Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, The Gambia
- Katiba Institute, Kenya
- Legal Resources Centre, Ghana
- Pan-African Lawyers Union, Tanzania
- Southern African Litigation Centre, South Africa
- Women Lawyers Association, Malawi
Fellows will also take part in a mentorship and training program, which will include a monthly online curriculum and at least one in-person convening. These programs will expose fellows to a diverse array of women leaders as well as strong peer support networks, which will provide added support and inspiration as they pursue public interest work to advance the rights of women, girls, and marginalized communities.
Eligibility
- Applicants should have a qualifying law degree.
- Possess a practice Certificate:
- Admitted to practice as a lawyer in at least one of the countries of the host organizations
- Work experience:
- At least two years of post-qualification experience in the legal field. (As this fellowship is for early-career women lawyers, we will be less likely to consider women with more than five years of legal experience post-qualification).
- Experience in women’s rights and working in human rights organizations preferred
- Citizenship or work authorization in either Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, or Ghana.
- Skills/competencies:
- Experience working with survivors and/or impacted communities
- Experience integrating gender and child-sensitive perspectives into substantive work
- Interest in gender equality and women’s rights
- Commitment to the mission and goals of the Clooney Foundation for Justice and relevant host organizations.
- A demonstrated ability to conduct complex legal analysis and fact-finding.
- Excellent research, writing and verbal communication skills.
- Self-starter with excellent interpersonal and teamwork skills.
- Demonstrated commitment to social justice and human rights and creativity in crafting strategies to advance justice in our priority areas.
- Willingness to travel.
- Fluency in English required; proficiency in other working languages relevant to the countries of host organizations preferred.
Application
Applications for the inaugural class of CFJ’s Waging Justice for Women Fellowship Program will remain open until April 8, 2023. After that deadline, CFJ will screen applications in conjunction with partner organizations, and shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews by early May. Offers for the inaugural class of CFJ Fellows will be extended by late May, at the latest. Those selected for a fellowship should expect to begin in July of 2023.
For more information, visit Waging Justice for Women Fellowship.
