Opportunity Fund

The Opportunity Fund is the World Justice Project’s small grants program. It will provide resources to programs for action conceived by multidisciplinary coalitions at the World Justice Forum from July 2-5, 2008 in Vienna, Austria.

450 governmental and non-governmental leaders from over 83 countries came together from such diverse disciplines as architecture, the arts, business, education, engineering, environment, faith, human rights, labor, law, law enforcement, media, military, public health and public safety, as well as senior officials from government organizations.

The objective of the World Justice Forum was for participants to develop and commit to programs involving multiple disciplines to strengthen the rule of law. At the Forum, participants met first by discipline to discuss:

  • How the rule of law affects your discipline
  • How effective laws are in supporting your discipline
  • Obstacles to implementing an effective rule of law for your discipline and possible positive forces which exist or could be formed to support rule of law implementation

Participants then met with others from their respective regions to develop multidisciplinary programs to strengthen the rule of law which they will commit to implement during the next year in:

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Caribbean
  • Eurasia
  • Europe
  • International
  • Central America
  • South America
  • Middle East/North Africa
  • North America

In the spirit of our philosophy that the law is for everyone -- not just for lawyers -- Opportunity Fund grants will support collaborations between two or more disciplines (for example, law and education, or faith and human rights) in small, 12-month projects to advance the rule of law. Each program will address a concrete problem facing the grantees' disciplines or region. At least one discipline in each proposal must be from outside the fields of law and the judiciary. Eligible applicants were all World Justice Forum 2008 participants.

Forum participants are working across professions so that the plans made in Vienna will become a reality. They will bring the results of their programs to the next World Justice Forum in 2009.

We were fortunate to receive many competitive applications from all regions. The application deadline has passed, and we are not accepting any additional applications. The current Opportunity Fund grant cycle will go from late 2008 - late 2009. The next funding cycle is anticipated to begin in late 2009.

If you have submitted an application, we have received and are reviewing it. The manager assigned to your proposal will be in contact with you.