Open Society Foundations

What has been the trajectory of the human rights movement over the past three decades, and how can we apply those lessons as we look into the future? Yale Law School Professor Aslı Ü Bâli, Former Vice Chair, UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Gay J. McDougall, Open Society President Emeritus Aryeh Neier, and Amnesty International General Secretary Agnes Callamard join Open Society Justice Initiative Executive Director James Goldston to explore these and more in the first of a three-part online discussion series. RSVP to attend online: https://lnkd.in/ggmR9fzp Through personal stories and reflections rooted in decades of experience, "Tracing the Modern Human Rights Movement: A Discussion Series" will explore what rights movements have achieved, what they amount to today, and where they might be headed. By re-examining the origins, aims, impacts, and legacy of various struggles, our hope is to learn, inspire, and perhaps understand how to advance a shared mission of holding the powerful to account. #OpenSociety #HumanRights #DiscussionSeries #Event

Emma Bonino, the pioneering Italian politician, trailblazing human rights advocate, and a former Open Society board member, died on September 11, 2026, at the age of 78. She was committed to the humane treatment of all, from those in jail to migrants to women seeking safe abortions and beyond, writes Aryeh Neier, president emeritus of the Open Society Foundations. Bonino first gained prominence in her native Italy by leading the campaign to legalize abortion. She drew national attention after turning herself in to the police for seeking a clandestine abortion and helping other women do the same. She later became involved in the Radical Party, which was dedicated to advancing civil rights. Her political career included leading Italy’s ministries of trade and European affairs and serving as the country’s foreign minister. She also served as a member of the European Commission and helped drive efforts to establish the International Criminal Court. Despite decades of supporting abortion, divorce, and assisted dying in opposition to the Catholic Church, she counted Pope Francis among her close friends. Francis called her “one of Italy’s greats.” Conservative Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said of Bonino, “Our stories and sensibilities have been distant, but this has never prevented me from recognizing her weight and role in our nation’s public life.” Read more of Neier’s tribute to her through the link in the comments. #OpenSociety #EmmaBonino #AbortionRights #InternationalJustice #Italy

Seven months into the U.S. war on Iran, fighting has widened and the consequences have spread far beyond Iran’s borders. “These two trends, the deterioration of democracy and the increasing conflict. And they are empirically connected,” said Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General of International IDEA. “When you see the number of conflicts raging in the world, we're talking about 65 countries affected by active conflicts right now of different sorts. That's the highest number that we've seen ever since the end of the Second World War.” The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, rising insecurity in the Red Sea, and pressure on energy markets are felt in the Gulf, Lebanon, Syria, and the Horn of Africa. Violence in the Black Sea restricting grain exports and a strengthening El Niño are further compounding food insecurity in already vulnerable communities. “The pressures on global food systems are becoming more complex and more urgent. And communities around the world are feeling them more and more deeply. So these discussions this week come at a critical time,” said Enoh T. Ebong, President of the Global Development Department at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). “The world is facing three overlapping food security and humanitarian shocks at once. Any one of these shocks, would be serious on its own. Together, they are straining markets, raising costs, disrupting trade, and making it harder for farmers, families, and communities to absorb yet another blow.” In response, a new multilateral system is emerging with the rising influence of an expanding group of middle powers, including ones in the Gulf and Africa, who are advancing new approaches to security. Discussions at UNGA 81 called on the international community to address the war’s compounding shocks and repercussions.

Too often, the human rights movement has preferred rights in the negative: no to torture, no to censorship, no to detention without trial. But there must also be an affirmation of something positive—a vision of what could be. As global decisionmakers gather in New York for UNGA 81, Open Society hosted events exploring new ideas and perspectives on the opportunity to reimagine the future of human rights. Secretary-General candidate María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés spoke about artificial intelligence as not a tech issue, saying “it's an ethics issue. It's a political issue. It's an economics issue. The central code of artificial intelligence should be human dignity.” It isn’t about weakening universal protections already secured in law, but about enriching them and rebalancing the scales for future generations. Economic, social, and environmental rights need to be placed alongside civil and political rights—they are conditions that make freedoms real. “Leadership can be soft leadership. Because soft leadership means that you have an ethical and moral ground that you can use to the advantage of humanity,” said Ana María Giganto, ambassador for Feminist Foreign Policy of Spain. A new model of multilateralism must center human rights. Open Society’s Michelle Ndiaye said, “We are witnessing an unprecedent assault on norms and the international rules-based order. If the multilateral system is a stronghold of those norms, we need to make sure we influence process to keep human rights at the top of the agenda.” The future of human rights must be rooted in dignity, freedom, and opportunity for all.

The current multilateral world order has struggled against the double standards of great powers, who have stripped multilateral institutions of their influence, shaped the rules to their advantage, and follow them only when it suits. Today at UNGA 81, Open Society hosted conversations with municipal government officials, civil society and philanthropy leaders, policymakers, and more to tackle some of the central questions facing the international system. “The world right now is facing a very critical choice. Are we building a world in which one superpower can, through the use of force, rule out all kind of international law and the possibility of democratic and institutional engagement through the world? Or are we building a world in which different countries with different perspectives can collectively build a better future for humanity?” said Pedro Vieira Abramovay, our vice president of programs. “We are proposing that the path to peace and to economic prosperity is multilateralism, is the agreement and the collective effort of different countries towards collective solutions.” A new model of multilateralism is emerging as new coalitions of middle powers and countries of the Global South come together around demands for shared prosperity and sovereignty. Discussions focused on exercising their leadership in regional security, international financial reform, and rights reform, and advancing local models of peace, public safety, and reconstruction shaped by communities. “It's really at the local level where global developments are felt, where they become real and tangible. It's in cities where people experience peace, justice, and safety in their daily lives,” shared Diana Eggleston, the special envoy for the city of peace and justice, Hague Municipality. “We often hear national governments discussing peace and security at the strategic level. However, in cities, these are experienced through everyday realities. Whether our residents feel they can trust their institutions, whether they feel safe in public spaces, whether they have opportunities to meaningfully participate in society, and of course, whether their rights are respected.” A multilateral system built on minimal states has left governments with little room to respond to people’s needs; when states are able to deliver at home, they have more of a voice abroad. We’re working to support a shift in multilateral systems from instruments of fiscal discipline and constraints on public policy to enablers of a more just, equitable, and prosperous future for all.

Every September, one week in New York is madness. Motorcades, flags, speeches, and tired feet. As the leaders of the world assemble, to discuss the future at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). While the ritual will be the same—this year is different. Open Society's Kizito Byenkya and Kevin Hsieh share how UNGA 81 is meeting this moment of change through critical conversations around the future of multilateralism, centering human dignity, and the economic impacts felt across regions from conflict in the Gulf. Read more 👇