Malawian non-governmental organisation Gender and Justice Unit (GJU) has won the 2026 Segal Foundation Fighting for Fairness Award in recognition of its community justice initiative that empowers women.
The Fighting for Justice Award recognises organisations and individuals who use their platforms to give voice and power to historically marginalised groups and is granted in honour of the foundation’s founder Barry Segal.
The GJU, among others, has been awarded for its legal empowerment and knowledge justice initiatives, most notably the EmpowerLine platform, a legal technology tool launched in April 2025 to provide simplified legal information via a mobile app and a toll-free hotline in multiple local languages, bridging gaps in literacy, cost, and technology access.
colleagues. | Courtesy of Sarai Chisala-Tempelhoff
Reacting to the award, GJU founder and executive director Sarai Chisala-Tempelhoff dedicated the award to her grandmothers and mother, who shaped her feminism and views on systemic justice.
She said the GJU was established to make the law a practical tool for equality, challenging the idea that a woman’s access to justice should depend on her wealth, location, or social standing.
Said Chisala-Tempelhoff: “Fairness is whether a woman’s work can feed her children. It is whether education can become a route out. It is whether a woman starting again in a new country can build safety for her family. It is whether her labour is recognised or erased. That is why I chose the law, not as a profession but as a tool. It is the ground the Gender and Justice Unit was built on.”
In their citation during the award presentation, the judges said Chisala-Tempelhoff is “making sure that women in Malawi receive justice that works for them, according to their culture and circumstances”.
The EmpowerLine is basically a legal library on the phone and women seeking further support dial 4285, a toll free line.
Acades, another Malawian organisation, was awarded the Grassroots Champion Award and Chisala-Tempelhoff hailed the recognition as proof that Malawian organisations are producing powerful models for the African continent.
Since 2012, the Segal Family Foundation has recognised outstanding leaders of the organisations in five categories and this year’s winners, awarded at a gala in Nairobi, Kenya, came from Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
