The Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF) was established in 2019 to pioneer and promote African-led and enduring transitional justice efforts on the continent. What began as a three-year, $3.5 million project of the Ghana-based Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) became an independent entity in 2021 and has since evolved into an institutionalized nine-year, $18 million fund. ATJLF’s core mandate has been to empower local partners to engage in transformative and sustainable interventions that meaningfully contribute to the pursuit of truth, justice, and accountability. ATJLF has also collaborated directly with the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to advance implementation of the 2019 African Union Transitional Justice Policy Framework (AUTJP). In addition, since 2023, ATJLF has partnered with the International Center for Transitional Justice, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, and the African Union through a consortium known as the Initiative for Transitional Justice in Africa, funded by the European Union. The Initiative aims to advance implementation of the AUTJP more broadly across the continent.

Back in January 2024, we announced a legacy phase of our work for the period 2024 to 2026. During this legacy phase (2024–2026), we have solicited proposals from community-based organizations in our focus countries and approved grant support for advocacy, law reform, institutional capacity building, memorial initiatives, and campaigns aimed at contributing to the realization of post-conflict truth, justice, and accountability. Our final grantmaking cohort prioritized support for transformative projects that will leave behind a lasting legacy of initiatives across the continent. We have also continued our collaboration under the Initiative for Transitional Justice in Africa and approved final grants focused on implementing transitional justice projects beyond West Africa as part of this Initiative. This includes support for organizations working on transitional justice in Lesotho, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, and Zimbabwe.

This announcement is to reiterate that ATJLF will not consider any new grantmaking beyond 2026, both in its core grantmaking focused on West Africa and under the auspices of the Initiative for Transitional Justice in Africa.

At the same time, ATJLF has put in place a dedicated plan over the next eighteen months of its legacy phase to document its work, showcase informative examples of success, and strengthen the ecosystem of transitional justice advocacy on the continent. ATJLF will:

• Document, memorialize, and publish the body of work of our sub-grantees and their accomplishments, with specific attention to sharing key lessons and practices that may broadly inform transitional justice advocacy across the continent.
• Provide support to an established community of practice of continental transitional justice actors, including past and present ATJLF sub-grantees, partners, and organizations collaborating under the auspices of the Initiative for Transitional Justice in Africa. Through the community of practice, we aim to strengthen peer learning, promote the sharing of knowledge, resources, and best practices, and nurture networks of collaboration and learning, including support for new generations of transitional justice advocates.

We invite you to follow the dissemination of ATJLF’s body of work, which will include examples of the excellent initiatives undertaken by ATJLF sub-grantees and the lessons we have learned. We also encourage our partners and readers to follow our social media pages and a dedicated microsite, which we will unveil soon (early July 2026).