Clooney announces law scholarships for Malawian girls

The Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) has announced a new partnership with the University of Malawi to provide fully-paid scholarships to 30 girls to study law, alongside a fellowship programme for early-career lawyers working on the rights of women and children who are victims of violence.

The announcement was made in Zomba on September 15, 2026, with Amal Clooney, Co-Founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, present alongside CFJ Fellows and university partners at the University of Malawi.

According to the Foundation, one in three girls in Malawi is a victim of violence, and one in ten is forced to marry before she turns 15.

While the law protects girls against such abuse, the Foundation says very few victims are ever able to reach the justice system—a gap it attributes largely to a severe shortage of legal professionals.

Malawi has fewer than 1,000 lawyers serving a population of 22 million, along with only 30 prosecutors and 56 judges.

The new Scholarship and Fellowship Programme is designed to increase the pipeline of qualified lawyers in the country and invest in the next generation of justice champions.

The scholarship component will fund 30 outstanding female law students at the University of Malawi, beginning with ten girls this year, helping them overcome financial barriers to entering the legal profession.

The initiative forms part of CFJ’s broader Justice for Women & Children programme, which provides legal aid and advocacy for women and children facing violence while investing in the development of women lawyers.

Through this programme, the Foundation says it has reached over 30,000 women and children across Africa, including hundreds of cases in which its lawyers represented women fighting for their rights.

“I am so proud to launch this new Scholarship Program at the University of Malawi so that brilliant young girls in Malawi can now study law at the nation’s top law school.

“And I’m excited that our new Fellowship Program will help the University expand access to justice for women and children across the country—starting now and for years to come,” said Clooney.

Through the partnership, CFJ will place a Fellow at the University’s Legal Clinics to support legal cases on behalf of women and children and mentor law students interested in the field.

The year-long Fellowship will focus on defending the rights of women and children who are victims of violence in court, as well as contributing to the development of artificial intelligence tools the Foundation is building in collaboration with the Oxford Institute of Technology and Justice, aimed at improving access to justice in Malawi.

The Fellow will also conduct research into legal remedies for violence against women and children, including child marriage, to inform future litigation and policy work.

Dr Ngcimezile Mbano-Mweso, Head of Department for Public Law and Clinical Legal Education at the University of Malawi, welcomed the partnership. “Legal education must connect students with the people the law is meant to serve.

A Clooney Foundation Fellow will help strengthen access to justice and technology, giving both the Fellow and our students a unique opportunity to help women and children in their community,” she said.

The CFJ Fellowship Programme provides early-career women lawyers with fully funded, year-long work placements and mentoring, embedding Fellows within legal aid organisations across Africa.

To date, Fellows across the continent have contributed to more than 500 cases and reached over 5,500 students through outreach sessions. In Malawi, Fellows have previously worked with the Women Lawyers Association of Malawi and the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance.

The University of Malawi Legal Clinics, based within the School of Law, Economics and Government, combine legal education with practical access-to-justice work, providing law students with hands-on training while supporting underserved communities through legal services, community engagement, clinical research and policy advocacy.

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