American Jewish World Service

Immaculate Ammoit, of AJWS partner WETEC, speaks at a panel during the 5th annual Abortion and Reproductive Justice Conference in Nairobi. Photo by Sarah Waiswa. Women’s bodily autonomy is under attack around the world—reading headlines here in Kenya provides too many reminders of this fight. But last month in Nairobi, as I stood amidst hundreds of brave people standing up for our rights, I felt hope I hadn’t experienced in awhile. My name is Elizabeth Okumu, an AJWS program officer in Kenya.

Rita and their classmates take a walk after school wraps. These young activists have already shifted local attitudes towards LGBTQI+ people. Photo by Luke Duggelby. “We all want justice. We all want a future that is fair. But we live in fear of being kicked out of our homes, being ostracized. We’re all looking around wondering who will be the first to take action.

AJWS Releases a Statement on Last Slate of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions New York, N.Y. (July 1, 2026) — At the conclusion of a disruptive season of decisions by the Supreme Court, American Jewish World Service (AJWS) welcomes yesterday’s ruling preserving birthright citizenship, a Constitutional right that has defined our nation’s promise for more than 150 years.

New York (June 25, 2026)—American Jewish World Service (AJWS) condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Haiti and Syria. The court’s decision threatens to upend the lives of families who have built their futures in this country and now face the prospect of being forced to return to conditions of severe instability, violence, and humanitarian crisis.

In 2024, schoolteacher Joyseph Sseruwagi fled their hometown in Uganda and crossed into Kenya, fearing they’d be arrested and sentenced to decades in prison. Joyseph’s crime? Their sexual orientation, which is severely criminalized under Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act. Joyseph now lives in Kenya, where they lead an organization supported by AJWS partner Jinsiangu, helping other LGBTQI+ people fleeing for their safety to find shelter and rebuild their lives.

When we think of refugees—we think of war. But around the world, people are driven from their homes by other forces that rarely make the headlines. Today, nearly 70 countries criminalize homosexuality and queerness, with punishments ranging from imprisonment to the death penalty. These laws, and the social stigma and violence that they provoke, force untold millions of LGBTQI+ people to flee their countries to save their lives.

Since 2011, AJWS partner organization Y’en a Marre has been working to save Senegal’s democracy. In 2024, they began saving lives as well. That’s when Y’en a Marre opened KARIBU — a safe house for activists from nearby African countries who were forced into exile. KARIBU (named after the Swahili word for “welcome”) not only offers shelter, but also helps these activists find work in Senegal, and integrates them into Y’en a Marre’s thriving pro-democracy social movement.

On a recent afternoon in Bangalore, India, almost 100 people pack the auditorium of the city’s National Gallery of Modern Art. For over an hour, they witness something extraordinarily rare: eight middle-aged queer and trans people talking about their lives and dreams, their families and friends. It’s a professional performance complete with music, lights, sets, and costumes that’s incredibly intimate, like sitting in a friend’s living room and catching up.

In February, we welcomed Tawanda Mutasah as AJWS’s new President and CEO. A veteran human rights leader, he has spent the past three decades advancing rights-based social change around the world. Tawanda joins AJWS at a challenging time for global human rights, with authoritarianism on the rise and freedoms being curtailed. And so, we sat down with him to learn more about his life, his work, and his vision for the future. Q: What intrigued you most about working at AJWS?

Hours after Ana* gave birth at a public hospital in an eastern province of the Dominican Republic, immigration officials descended on the mother and her newborn to transfer them to a detention center to await deportation to Haiti. What followed was a five-hour ordeal during which Ana and her baby were confined to a vehicle for several hours, deprived of food or water, and the new mother was denied medical assistance when she reported that she was bleeding.