Today marks a historic moment as Justice for Africa (JFA), a youth and student-led movement, officially launches as an independent, Africa-based organisation. Born from years of collective struggle against global inequality and the denial of basic rights, JFA represents a bold new chapter in the fight for justice, equity, and systemic change.
The Birth of a Movement
Justice for Africa began in early 2023 as a joint campaign co-convened by the All-Africa Students Union (AASU), 100 Million, and the Global Student Forum, alongside a number youth- and student-led organisations across the world Its formation was driven by the stark realities of the global inequalities facing Africa’s children and young people – realities shaped by a global system rigged against them.
Despite global commitments to leave no young person behind like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the actions fall far short as the number of African children out of school has increased by over 17 million, while the rest of the world has seen progress. Meanwhile, the world produces an average of two billionaires and 90,000 additional African child labourers every week, with new global estimates from the ILO and UNICEF revealing that the number of African child labourers has risen to 94 million, the highest on record. A grotesque illustration of an economic order at war with children, where profit is prioritised over people.
The roots of injustice
While African governments must do more to uphold rights, the core barriers lie in global systems of tax exploitation, unsustainable debt, unjust aid structures, and climate finance injustice. These unjust global mechanisms keep African nations trapped in poverty, unable to provide education, healthcare, and dignified work for their citizens.
The architects of this inequality? Rich nations and the international governance institutions they control. The IMF gives the United States three times more voting power than all 48 sub-Saharan African countries combined. The OECD, which dictates global tax policies, includes no African members, and until recently, only one of Africa’s 54 nations had a seat at the G20. The G7 remains an exclusive club of the world’s wealthiest with no African representation.
A generation rising
Justice for Africa was founded on a simple but radical principle: this generation will no longer accept these injustices.
Over the past two years, thousands of young people, students, survivor-advocates, and their organisations across 40+ countries and five continents have taken to the streets, engaging in high-level advocacy and demanding change. From protests in capital cities to community actions in refugee camps, from national TV debates to dialogues with world leaders, the movement has been relentless.
In a historic move, over 70 youth- and survivor-led organisations jointly challenged the IMF, demanding a fairer financial system – a call that garnered responses from the governments of Switzerland, Germany, the European Commission, the African Development Bank, and the UN. JFA has also taken this fight to the African Union, ECOWAS Parliament, and the United Nations, proving that the voices of African youth are impossible to ignore.
A New Chapter: Justice for Africa as an Independent Force
Building on this momentum, JFA is now establishing itself as an independent, Africa-led legal entity, a first-of-its-kind platform to challenge the unjust global power structures from the continent supported by their peers across the world.
Join the Movement
As Justice for Africa officially launches, the call is clear: the time for change is now. Join us!