Trustees of EMF are :

 Mr Al’adin Maherali

Amin Mawji

Hon Alderman Najma Hafeez

Paul Mathurin

Anil Bhanot, OBE

Annie Page

John Barrett

The Foundation supports initiatives that seek to provide practical solutions to intractable social problems as well as those able to effect far-reaching social change.




Over the last 10 years EMF’s successes have included:

·      The creation of an industry specific MBA, creating over 40 new leaders for the sector

·   Creating the first comprehensive database of minority ethnic voluntary organisations

·         Sponsoring the first Black woman to qualify at the Scottish Bar

·         The Muslim women's Engagement programme

·         The forced marriage awareness campaign

·         Creating a community asset management programme

EMF is an independent organisation that seeks to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice present in our society and the growing inequities in the world system. The Foundation works for structural change in order to increase the opportunity of those who are the least well off politically, economically and socially. It works mainly by investing in research, dialogue, advocacy and policy analysis that furthers these goals.

The best way to address the huge social justice challenges facing us is to work with people living and working closest to where problems and opportunities are located and securing participation by men and women from diverse communities at all levels of society. A key aspect of our work is the recognition that government and the private sector need to play their part. Therefore engaging government and the private sector enables the Foundation to act as the constituency builder for social justice. The Foundation sees itself having three roles –supporting community organising and institution building, engaging government and building constituencies and communicating across realities, enhancing associational life, open possibilities for participation and connecting with even the unlikeliest of allies.

Over the last hundred years, societies around the world have generated more wealth than in any other century in history. Yet there has been more bloodshed and greater inequities than the world has ever known. In EMF's view to curtail such strife and suffering – we must find a way of letting more people share in the benefits of prosperity, we have to engage with the populace and governments that are committed to building a more secure and equitable future. To realise this vision we wish to build a movement to engage people around the world and to create opportunities for civil society to thrive. We have started in India and have plans for Africa.

Increasingly, the decisions that shape the lives of individuals, families and communities are made in distant capitals by international organisations this requires citizen participation to shift into the global arena – through alliances with grass root organisations and communities that are struggling to get their voices heard.

A key part of our strategy is building constituencies and alliances for social justice – educating and raising awareness by convening issue based dialogues, creating safe spaces for dialogue that can help overcome disunity and lessen differences.

Increasingly, we seek opportunities to support movements that bridge ideological, geographic, or thematic divides. We look for ways that grass-roots groups, non-profit intermediaries, and membership organisations can articulate common goals, build new coalitions, promote mutual accountability and learn from each other.

Our social justice program works globally to tackle some of the most difficult issues facing societies today. The work of EMF, grantees and our partners is leading the way to build inclusive societies; protecting children from exploitation; safeguarding the rights of women and other vulnerable groups; tackling poverty and seeking social applications for technology that make a major impact on livelihood. Work is underway to identify ways to end racial discrimination, curtail the spread of infectious diseases and the rise of drug and extreme drug resistant TB.

As countries and societies around the world undergo continual demographic change, they must wrestle with complex issues of difference and identity, religion and ethnicity, migration and citizenship. How can increasingly cosmopolitan societies govern themselves in ways that respect differences while fostering a genuine sense of the common or public interest?

At times these can seem like distant aspirations. But we have seen real progress towards these goals, as well as opportunities for continued gains.

Our efforts to promote social justice focus on four inter related fields:

·         Children and Education

·         Gender, Health and livelihood

·         New Technology and social applications

·         Human Rights

·         We regard these fields as interdependent and mutually reinforcing.

Four Vital Goals

In keeping with the Foundations mission, the social justice program has identified four vital goals that guide its work.

·         We seek to end child exploitation practices that deprive children from having a childhood and a decent education.

o    Ensure that labour practices relating to children from unsafe working practices to slavery and bonded labour are challenged and laws enforced. Secure the rights of children

o    Ensure that children have a right to education and assisting poor families to make the transition by tackling the root causes of parental inaction

o    Increase the capacity and responsiveness of grass-root organisations that work to help support children and provide a new future

o    Ensure that the education of the girl child is a priority and appropriate educational facilities exist.

·         We seek to empower women to enable them to assert their fundamental rights

o    Promote dialogue on cultural, social values and legal frameworks that support women's empowerment and gender equity

o    Build capacity to acquire education and skills that enable economic independence leading to stronger families and communities

o    Seek to curb gender violence – both in the home and in the wider community – by changing laws, attitudes and behaviour

o    Promote women led micro-finance institutions that support livelihood and sustainability.

·         We seek to exploit the development of new technologies for the benefit of society and communities

o    Secure the development of generic drugs – making affordability a key step in the treatment of neglected diseases

o    Invest resources in the development of diagnostics, drugs and vaccines to deal with infectious diseases through open-source development

o    Develop and promote technologies that have direct impact on the livelihood of the world's poor from drought and disease resistant grains through to solar energy

o    Using space technology for the benefit of society – from tele-medicine, tele-education, water and irrigation,

·         The ultimate goal of human rights advocacy is to achieve social justice by fulfilling the rights that accrue to all people by virtue of their humanity

o    Promote economic, social and cultural rights, tackling systemic issues – like barriers to obtaining food, shelter, education and health care-which make the exercise of other rights possible

o    Support advocacy, research and educational efforts that protect the rights of all people, particularly the most vulnerable members of our global society

o    Encourage governments and global communities to recognise the need to protect and promote human rights

If you wish to get involved in our work and campaign for social justice please contact us. We have work underway in India – through INDIA800 Foundation and partners in Philippines and Tanzania.

Krishna Sarda, Chief Executive Officer