Namati is a Sanskrit word that means “to shape something into a curve.” Martin Luther King Jr. said that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” We call ourselves Namati because we’re dedicated to bending that curve.

This video was generously produced by Skoll.org, a long-time partner of ours.

From January to December, Namati and our partners supported 25,000+ people in 6 countries to address injustices involving land, environment, healthcare, and citizenship. Together, we achieved remedies that directly improved the lives of 300,000+ people, and systemic changes that affected millions more.

We invite you to explore the stories behind these facts and figures in our annual impact report. 

In these pages, you’ll also discover how the Legal Empowerment Network drove our movement for justice forward by fostering deep learning among members across borders and by co-launching a global fund with the goal of investing $100 million in grassroots justice efforts worldwide.

We are excited to share that the COVID-19 Grassroots Justice Fund has reached its goal of raising and distributing $1 million USD in rapid-response, flexible grants.

The second and final round of grantees includes 27 outstanding groups, all members of our network, who are rising to meet the challenges of the ongoing pandemic.

In Thailand, Community Resource Centre Foundation (CRC) is supporting communities to bring about the enforcement of environmental laws and seek remedies for harms caused by industrial projects. With gatherings and travel still restricted, CRC is using digital tools to assist community members to attend virtual public hearings, submit evidence, and move advocacy campaigns online.

In Kenya, Keeping Alive Societies’ Hope (KASH) is working to meet the justice and healthcare needs of the populations most affected by HIV, who face increased police brutality, homelessness, and limited access to treatment in the pandemic. Through radio campaigns, KASH informs these groups of their rights, ensures they have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, and sensitizes members of the public to the injustices they face.

Check out the full list of grantees — selected by a panel of leaders from across our community — on the COVID-19 Grassroots Justice Fund website.

Community members discuss local laws at a meeting in Kayin state, Myanmar. (Photo: Namati)

Members of the Legal Empowerment Network—now over 2,800 justice organizations from nearly every country—have struggled to rise to the challenges created by the pandemic while keeping their people safe. To support their vital work, we teamed up with several other partners in 2020 to create the COVID-19 Grassroots Justice Fund. With this second round of grantees, we have now fulfilled its goal.

We recognize that $1 million is a drop in the ocean. With more than half the world’s population facing injustices they cannot remedy, we need substantial and consistent investment in the essential work of grassroots justice defenders. Our community has been working hard to make that happen. The Legal Empowerment Fund (LEF), which launched in September, is a direct result of years of collective action. Recently the LEF, which aims to raise $100 million over 10 years, announced its inaugural open call for proposals, with a deadline of February 18th, 2022.

While the COVID-19 Grassroots Justice Fund has concluded, our work towards securing long-term financing for justice continues.

To the grantees and the thousands of others fighting for justice in the most difficult of circumstances: we see you, we thank you, and we stand with you.

With love and solidarity,

Vivek, Stacey, Sonia, Abby, and the whole team supporting the Legal Empowerment Network

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If, like me, you’ve felt blue at times during this last year, or tired, or hopeless, this 2019-2020 impact report might be a tonic. You’ll find here stories of ordinary people taking on grave injustice, and winning.

You’ll read how a grieving mother in Mozambique organized with her neighbors to end systemic corruption at the hospital they depend on. How communities in Myanmar stopped unlawful manganese mines from destroying their forests, water, and farmland. How residents from a low-income, majority African-American neighborhood in Washington DC forced the city’s largest infrastructure project to reduce its air pollution.

You’ll read how, tested by the pandemic, our global community of grassroots justice groups — over 2,400 organizations, from nearly every country in the world — has strived to meet this moment. How we came together to create the COVID-19 Grassroots Justice Fund, which has made more of that vital work possible.

Learning from our successes is important, because we face profound challenges. Several paralegals we work with in Myanmar are now in hiding, and one is in prison, because of stands they took in favor of democracy. Most team members with our partner in India are dealing with COVID themselves or caring for sick loved ones. In Peru, three Indigenous leaders — partners of our network member Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales — were killed in February and March 2021 for resisting illegal deforestation.

Worldwide, the share of the population in extreme poverty is likely to increase for the first time since the 1990s. The Director of the World Health Organization declared we’ve reached an era of vaccine apartheid. The global Democracy Index had its lowest overall score in 2020 since The Economist started tracking in 2006. And we are on course to experience catastrophic climate change, which will affect poor and exploited communities the most.

The only things that can conquer challenges like these are movements of people committed to justice. And our movement is stronger and more determined than ever.

We look forward to joining hands with you on the road ahead.

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