Reports : Annual Report 2024

Annual Report 2024

Foreword by LAW’s Executive Director

I am proud to share Legal Action Worldwide’s latest Annual Report – a powerful reflection of the resilience, courage, and unwavering determination that define our work. Every achievement in this report is rooted in the strength of survivors and the tireless commitment of our staff and partners. Despite growing global instability, we continued to push boundaries to ensure justice is not a privilege, but a right.

This year brought significant developments. In Syria, the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime marked a new beginning. As Syrians seek to build their future, a survivor-led model of transitional justice is essential. We support this process by representing hundreds of survivors of detention and torture. Our seminal 2024 report “It is Forever Stigma” – The Role of Gender Discrimination in the Syrian Government’s Detention and Torture System, produced with the Syrian Centre for Legal Studies and Research, exposed the gendered violence inherent in the state’s detention system and reinforced the need for accountability rooted in survivor experiences. Conflict continued to displace and endanger civilians across the region.

In Lebanon, escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah forced over a million people from their homes. Our teams responded swiftly, delivering legal aid to nearly 50,000 people and securing justice for many, including migrant domestic workers like MH, an Ethiopian woman subjected to slavery. Her case broke legal ground, as for the first time in Lebanese history, a judge summoned an accused employer to respond to slavery charges.

This commitment to upholding the law under extreme circumstances extended to the occupied Palestinian territory, where unrelenting violence disproportionately impacted women and children. LAW remained one of the few organisations fostering inclusive legal dialogue, bringing together Palestinian, Israeli, and international experts to advocate for civilian protection and the enforcement of international law.

Our work in Ukraine further underscored the universal reach of justice. In partnership with the Clooney Foundation for Justice, we brought forward a landmark complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee on behalf of victims of the 2022 Vinnytsia missile strike. By asserting the right to life under international law, we aim to establish the first legal decision addressing the crime of aggression – a vital step in holding aggressors accountable.

We saw progress in long-standing struggles for justice. In Argentina, the pursuit of accountability for the genocide of the Rohingya reached new heights. A federal court issued arrest warrants for 25 Myanmar officials – the first of their kind. Our clients included six courageous women who travelled from Cox’s Bazar to testify. Their voices not only shaped the case, but also helped spark a historic application for an arrest warrant by the ICC Prosecutor against Myanmar’s military leadership.

These milestones were mirrored in Sri Lanka, where our Gender Justice Legal Network supported 236 survivors of gender-based violence. With our help, women and children secured protection, navigated legal systems, and began to rebuild lives shaped by violence.

Throughout Africa, we continued to push precedent. In South Sudan, 35 survivors of sexual violence fought for seven years to protect their identities – and won. In a landmark decision, the UN CEDAW Committee agreed to transmit their case without revealing their names, setting a global standard for survivor safety before UN bodies. In Somalia, our trauma-informed legal support reached over 5,700 people, reinforcing our deep-rooted commitment to gender justice.

We also pursued international accountability. In partnership with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, we filed a universal jurisdiction complaint in Germany on behalf of eight Tigrayan victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These actions, alongside our case before the African Commission, demonstrate how strategic litigation can challenge impunity at the highest levels.

We are increasingly alarmed by the targeting of aid workers in conflict zones. In response, our ECHO-funded programme expanded to support more than 10 humanitarian organisations and 40 individuals facing legal threats. Our report, Justice and Accountability for Attacks on Aid Workers, gained recognition from the UN Secretary-General, who incorporated some of our recommendations into Security Council briefings.

To strengthen the global gender justice movement, we launched the Gender Justice Practitioner Hub (GJP Hub) in December 2024, following two years of global consultation with over 800 experts. With support from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the GJP Hub now connects practitioners across borders, promoting knowledge-sharing and coordination to improve outcomes for survivors of core international crimes.

As we look ahead to 2025, we are emboldened by the momentum we’ve built. Justice for survivors is not a distant aspiration – it is a goal within reach, powered by collective will and unyielding hope. I am deeply grateful to our team, our Board, our partners, and above all, the survivors who lead and inspire us. Together, we will continue our fight for a more just and accountable world.

Antonia Mulvey
Founder and Executive Director,
Legal Action Worldwide

Read the full report here.