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Draft:Binaifer Nowrojee

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  • Comment: Surely meets the notability criteria. Just needs a little clean up. Astra Travasso (talk) 21:51, 15 May 2026 (UTC)


Binaifer Nowrojee
Born
London, United Kingdom
Alma materColumbia Law School
EmployerOpen Society Foundations

Binaifer Nowrojee (born 1963 in London; raised in Nairobi, Kenya) is an international human rights lawyer. She has been president of the Open Society Foundations[1] since June 2024, becoming the first woman and the first woman from the Global South to lead the organisation.[2]

Early life and education

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Nowrojee was born in London to an Indian family of Parsi heritage and raised in Nairobi, Kenya.[2] She is the daughter of Pheroze Nowrojee, a prominent Kenyan human rights lawyer, poet, and writer.[2][3] She attended Hospital Hill Primary School and Loreto Convent Msongari in Nairobi.[3]

When she applied to a Kenyan university, she received no response. According to Nowrojee, she later learned from the institution's vice chancellor that he had received instructions not to admit her, which she attributed to the political repression of that period, when association with activist families carried consequences.[3]

She holds a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School.[2][4]

Career

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After graduating, Nowrojee worked as a staff attorney at the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First).[2][4]

Human Rights Watch

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Nowrojee joined Human Rights Watch as legal counsel, where she spent about a decade investigating human rights violations across Africa.[2] In 1996, she traveled to Rwanda to document sexual violence committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, interviewing hundreds of survivors. The resulting report, Shattered Lives: Sexual Violence during the Rwandan Genocide and its Aftermath, was published by Human Rights Watch in September 1996.[5]

Her evidence collection has been credited as contributing to the first-ever prosecution of rape as a war crime at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in the case of Prosecutor v. Akayesu (1998).[6] She subsequently testified as an expert witness at the ICTR in the separate case of Prosecutor v. Karemera et al. in 2005.[7]

Harvard Law School

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Following her time at Human Rights Watch, Nowrojee served as a lecturer at Harvard Law School. She also held a fellowship at Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights, where her research focused on how international tribunals can better deliver justice for rape survivors.[2][4]

Open Society Foundations

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Nowrojee joined the Open Society Foundations in 2004, leaving her position at Harvard Law School to become the founding director of the Open Society Initiative for East Africa, based in Nairobi, a role she held for approximately ten years.[2] She subsequently relocated to Singapore to become the organization's first regional director for Asia Pacific, serving in that role for seven years.[2][4]

Nowrojee later took on central leadership roles overseeing a major restructuring of the Open Society Foundations that formally began in 2021, serving successively as vice president for organizational transformation and then vice president for programs. The restructuring included a 40 percent reduction in staff and the closure or conversion of many international offices.[2]

In March 2024 the OSF Board of Directors unanimously appointed Nowrojee as president, succeeding Mark Malloch-Brown.[4] Consequently, in June, she became the first woman to lead the Open Society Foundations, and the first woman from the Global South to hold the role.[2][8] In a note to staff at the time of her appointment, she said: "We have endured a prolonged period of disruption, and this has not come without pain and loss."[2]

In May 2026, the Open Society Foundations announced a $30 million, three-year commitment to organizations working to counter antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate in the United States and internationally.[9]

As president, she has spoken publicly on threats to democratic institutions, the targeting of civil society by authoritarian governments, and the global rollback of rights for women and LGBTQ+ communities. She has been interviewed by NPR,[10] The Guardian,[11] Deutsche Welle,[12] the Associated Press,[8] and the Washington Times.[13]

Recognition

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Nowrojee contributes commentary to Project Syndicate and Foreign Policy on topics such as international humanitarian law, gender equality, and democratic backsliding.[14][15] In 2025 she received the International Law Institute's Lifetime Impact Award, recognizing lifetime contributions to international law.[16]

She has spoken at the Munich Security Conference (2026)[17] and delivered a plenary address at the Women Deliver 2026 Conference in Melbourne, Australia.[18]

Works

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  • Nowrojee, Binaifer. Shattered Lives: Sexual Violence during the Rwandan Genocide and its Aftermath. Human Rights Watch, 1996.

References

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  1. ^ Vogel, Kenneth P.; Kulish, Nicholas; Kelly, Kate; Schleifer, Theodore; Fahrenthold, David A. (2025-09-27). "Trump's Targeting of Soros Foundations Elicits Fear and Defiance on Left". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-05-15.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kavate, Michael (March 13, 2024). "Who Is Binaifer Nowrojee, the New President of Open Society Foundations?". Inside Philanthropy.
  3. ^ a b c Ondieki, Elvis (June 4, 2024). "Binaifer Nowrojee: How I got to head Open Society Foundations". Daily Nation.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Binaifer Nowrojee Appointed New President of Open Society Foundations; Mark Malloch-Brown to Step Down" (Press release). Open Society Foundations. March 11, 2024.
  5. ^ Nowrojee, Binaifer (September 1, 1996). Shattered Lives: Sexual Violence during the Rwandan Genocide and its Aftermath (Report). Human Rights Watch.
  6. ^ Guilbert, Kieran (June 17, 2015). "Film Shows Bravery of Rwandan Women in First Prosecution of Rape As War Crime". Reuters.
  7. ^ Nowrojee, Binaifer (September 30, 2005). Expert Report of Binaifer Nowrojee (PDF) (Report). International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
  8. ^ a b Beaty, Thalia (March 11, 2024). "George Soros' Open Society Foundations name new president after years of layoffs and transition". The Hill. Associated Press.
  9. ^ Pollard, James (May 13, 2026). "Soros' Open Society Foundations commit $30M to groups fighting antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate". Associated Press.
  10. ^ Inskeep, Steve (September 29, 2025). "'We're not afraid': George Soros' foundation on being Trump's next target". NPR Morning Edition.
  11. ^ Noor, Dharna (November 26, 2025). "President of George Soros' non-profit says it would take legal action to fight Trump's attacks". The Guardian.
  12. ^ Riegert, Bernd (2025). "Open Society warns of fraying democratic practice worldwide". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  13. ^ Beaty, Thalia (December 10, 2024). "Open Society Foundations president: 'Reimagination has taken place' under George Soros' son Alex". Washington Times.
  14. ^ Nowrojee, Binaifer. "Contributor page". Project Syndicate. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  15. ^ Nowrojee, Binaifer (December 18, 2025). "Don't Let Trump Destroy the G-20". Foreign Policy.
  16. ^ "Open Society Foundations President Binaifer Nowrojee Receives International Law Institute's 2025 Lifetime Impact Award". Open Society Foundations. 2025.
  17. ^ "Binaifer Nowrojee". Munich Security Conference. February 23, 2026. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  18. ^ "Binaifer Nowrojee". Women Deliver. 2026. Retrieved May 13, 2026.

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Kenyan lawyers Category:Kenyan women lawyers Category:Human rights lawyers Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni

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