The Clooney Foundation Fellowship Program 2024 For African Women Lawyers

About the Clooney Foundation Fellowship Program 2024

Applications are now being accepted for the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s (CFJ) Second Year Fellowship Program for African Women Lawyers in 2024. Following the success of the inaugural year, CFJ has launched the second year of its Waging Justice for Women Fellowship.

This program aims to empower and support early-career women lawyers in Africa by offering them a competitive annual salary sponsored by CFJ and the chance to collaborate with prominent human rights organizations across the continent in advocating for gender justice for women and girls.

The Fellowship is being conducted in partnership with the Legal Empowerment Fund at the Fund for Global Human Rights. These prestigious fellowships are full-time, year-long opportunities, scheduled to run from January 2025 to December 2025.

Eligibility Criteria

A qualifying law degree

Practice Certificate:

Admitted to practice as a lawyer in at least one of the countries of the host organizations
Fellows must be admitted to practice as lawyers in the respective country of their host organization of choice.

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, or Liberia
Costs relating to international relocation and acquiring work authorization cannot be supported

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.

Benefits of the Clooney Foundation Fellowship Program 2024

The following are the benefits of the CFJ’s second year fellowship program:

Each of the 10 fellows will be placed in a different organization across Africa.
The fellows will spend one year working with their host organizations on a wide variety of women’s and girls’ rights issues.
They support at least one strategic litigation case designed to advance women’s and girls’ rights in national, regional, or international courts, or UN human rights mechanisms.

The fellows receive mentorship, monthly online training, and access to leading lawyers, activists, and academics from across Africa and around the world.

Host Organizations Partnering with CFJ on the Fellowship Program

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

How To Apply

All applications are done online via the link provided below. Please note that the deadline for applications is August 4, 2024. If you have any questions or have technical issues arise in completing the application, please email wjwfellowships@cfj.org.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY