Justice Africa was founded as an advocacy organisation and research institute in 1999, dedicated to campaigning for human rights and social justice across Africa, and initiating and supporting civil society activities promoting democracy and peace. Justice Africa seeks to give a voice to those affected by conflict and marginalised in society, and is run by, for and with Africans and African communities; guided by the Pan-African slogan: “Nothing for me without me”. They work directly with civil society and communities to encourage dialogue and informed citizenry, promote peace and support democratic processes in Africa.
Justice Africa maintains faith in the basic principles of peaceful co-existence and ‘unity in diversity’. Over the years we have developed principles that guide and help them to embed their values in their work:
Guiding Principles
Comprehensiveness: They believe that it is impossible to promote one aspect of peace in the absence of concern for other aspects and that peace can only be achieved when interventions address conflicts comprehensively.
Inclusivity: They consult with as many stakeholders as possible, at each stage of a process to understand the views and interests of everyone, in order to develop sustainable solutions.
Impartiality: They maintain links with parties to conflicts to ensure their capacity to work with all stakeholders; however, they remain impartial and have only one objective: to sustain peace.
Positivity: Morale is often desperately needed in circumstances of conflict and hardship. They believe it is important to appreciate and encourage positive trends as well as acknowledging negative ones, to support resilience and optimism in the face of strife.
Strategic Drive: They believe in long term strategies that prevent problems from occurring in the first place, as well as working with groups long after, to ensure strong foundations for peaceful and empowered communities.
Building on strengths: They work to develop approaches that build on what is in place and functional, so that they are supporting institutions and structures that people are comfortable with; looking at what has worked in the past and building from strengths rather than weaknesses.
Contextual Depth: They try to understand and articulate the context in which they work, from the inside-out. One-size-fits-all solutions generally do not work, and the more people understand a situation, the better placed they are to find appropriate solutions.
Serving people: They do not seek publicity or the limelight, so that those closest to the issue have the space to take their roles as drivers and owners of processes. They try to always remember that they are ‘in service’, not ‘a service’.
Appropriate Institutional Frameworks: The outcomes of interventions often depend heavily on how you do things. They think carefully when they design institutional systems, structures and frameworks, so that they provide the structure, flexibility, and transparency required.
They try to develop lean bureaucratic systems that first and foremost respond to the interests and needs of their partners and the people they serve.
The Beginning
Justice Africa was founded in London in 1999 by four longstanding advocates for peace and human rights – Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, Yoanes Ajawin, Paulos Tesfagiorgis and Alex de Waal, to undertake research into the underlying causes of human rights violations and to campaign for policy changes. It established an innovative approach, looking beyond documentation and legalistic prescription. It built on the work of a series of existing and previous organisations.
Tajudeen was general secretary of the Pan African Movement and sought to complement his work there with an additional capacity for research and advocacy. Among other writings he published a regular ‘Thursday Postcard’ which was widely read across the continent. A collection of these postcards has been published by Pambazuka press. Tajudeen served as Principal Director from 2005 until his untimely death in 2009. He is fondly remembered by many.
Paulos, a leading Eritrean human rights activist, was unable to continue his work in his home country and established JA as a new platform abroad. Paulos served as Principal Director from 2003-2005 and remains a member of the Board.
Alex and Yoanes brought with them ongoing projects related to civil war in Sudan from their years at African Rights where they had been responsible for the Sudan programme. Alex was Principal Director from 1999-2003 and remains on the Board. Yoanes left Justice Africa to return to South Sudan where he is remains active in politics and human rights work.
Over the years Justice Africa has directed its attention towards emergent issues in Africa including the peace and security agenda of the African Union; the governance record of liberation movements in power; HIV/AIDS and governance; and youth politics in Africa. Their initial focus began in the Horn of Africa, a region where the challenges of divisions, inequitable development and bad governance have been particularly acute. Their focus spread to include the Great Lakes region and through partnerships with regional and sub-regional institutions, has also had a Pan-African focus.
