Shifting from Charity to Justice
THE JUSTICE BASED APPROACH
WHAT IS JBA?
The Justice Based Approach (JBA) is a powerful framework for radical change in the world.
As a lens, it empowers us to challenge dominant systems, redistribute decision-making, implore bold action, hold power to account, and cultivate alternative models for change.
JBA recognizes that current frameworks of charity, international aid, and human rights mechanisms are not fit-for-purpose. Rather than moving us towards a shared liberation and regeneration of society and the planet, these approaches often maintain the status quo rather than disrupt it, and they rarely address the systemic causes of the problems we seek to change. In a world of shrinking aid budgets, lost trust in human rights and international humanitarian law, growing authoritarianism, and climate collapse, these surface solutions are not enough - we must move beyond them to get to the roots of the oppressive and destructive forces that are writing our collective history.
JBA recognizes that marginalized communities do not need charity. They don't need aid. What they need and demand is Justice. ​
The five pillars of the Justice Based Approach breaks this down into five distinct but interlinked theories of change with roots in rights-based and participatory approaches, systems and design thinking, feminist and social justice movements, environmental action, and alternative economics.
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A Justice Based Approach is demanding tax justice rather than focusing on reduced aid budgets
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A Justice Based Approach is challenging exploitative practices of corporations rather than providing an opportunity for them to whitewash their ongoing legacy of harm
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A Justice Based Approach is supporting marginalized communities to lead initiatives for change rather than aiming for mere consultation
- A Justice Based Approach is advocating for cash transfer in situations where it would be most effective rather than providing food parcels
- A Justice Based Approach is seeking alternative ways to hold power to account rather than relying on broken human rights mechanisms and international law
The approach was developed by United Edge in 2017 and forms the heart of everything we do as a social enterprise. Since then, we have trained and supported thousands of people in taking JBA forward in their work for transformation.
We must stop managing injustice and start dismantling it.
THE FIVE PILLARS
The Justice Based Approach is built around five interlinked pillars that provide a visionary but practical foundation for analysis and action. Each pillar is a stand-alone approach to social change that focuses on the goal of Justice and challenges the dominant logic of aid, charity, and social change.
Each pillar also reinforces the others to amplify the change it seeks. They are deeply connected and not intended as a checklist. Rather, together they form a lens, a compass, and a call to action.
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Here's a brief overview of each of the pillars. To learn more, you can join one of our upcoming JBA-inspired courses, read a blog about the approach, or download our FREE Justice Toolkit.
RADICAL
SYSTEMS
All the world's biggest problems are systemic, so they require a systems approach to addressing them. Rather than working on the symptoms of these systems, we need to shift our efforts to dismantling and replacing them with structures that are built from the ground up. These Radical Systems center on diversity, synergy, mutual benefit and shared power in the way that they work. They are self-regulating, regenerative and contribute beyond their system boundaries.
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We have to recognize that the struggle doesn't lie somewhere else - our own projects and movements can uphold forces of oppression and destruction just as easily as we can spark liberation and regeneration. The key is building our own ability to see the difference.
From patriarchy to feminism, from ableism to inclusion, from heteronormativity to gender liberation, from competition to cooperation, from charity to reparations, from exploitation to regeneration
EVERYDAY
ACTIVISM
Every action taken by states, organisations, companies, and individuals has an impact on the balance of Justice. Even with the best of intentions, our words and actions have impacts that we're often unaware of. Everyday Activism is about uncovering those truths — often embedded in our own power, privilege, and positionality — and changing our actions to align to a shared goal of Justice. It impacts what brands and products we support, how we relate to others, where we show up, and who we listen to.
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Everyday Activism is more than our external politics, our chants, and our allegiances - it's the quiet commitment to learning, growing, and changing our behaviour. It means using the power we already hold — in our communities, relationships, and daily routines — to live justice, not just speak it.
From mindlessness to awareness, from individualism to collective care, from shareholders to co-workers, from consumerism to compassion, from profit to planet, from everyday apathy to everyday activism
LIVING
DEMOCRACY
True democracy means ensuring that decisions are made by those most affected by them. It is infinitely more expansive than party politics, elections or voting systems — in fact, more often than not, these structures restrict true democracy rather than cultivate it. Decisions shift power.
In our work for social change, it means going far above and beyond the rhetoric of consultation, participation, and localization. It's about a genuine shift in ownership to those most impacted by our work. Living Democracy is a daily practice of sharing power in our homes, communities, workplaces, businesses, schools, hospitals, countries, and every building block of society. It is for the people, by the people.
From boardrooms to break rooms, from centralized to local governance, from aid workers to communities, from INGOs to grassroots movements, from corporations to people, from voting to vibrant democracy
ALTERNATIVE
MODELS
We cannot build a just world with unjust tools. Alternative Models are living, breathing proof that other ways of organizing life are not only possible — they already exist. Just because we have been doing things the same way for generations, it doesn't mean we have the best solutions. We need to innovate and experiment boldly. We need to be brave enough to learn from indigenous and historical knowledge, feminist economics, solidarity networks, cooperatives, and other models yet to be mainstreamed.
These are community-led, justice-rooted solutions that challenge extraction, domination, and control in favor of equity, sustainability, and care. Alternative Models is about looking beyond reform and towards a bold reimagining of how we govern, work, heal, trade, and live together. They are more holistic, more effective, less harmful and only need to be seen, supported, and scaled.
From standard to holistic education, from sewage to grey water, from animal-based livelihoods to plant-based alternatives, from punitive to restorative justice, from companies to cooperatives, from mainstream to alternative models
BRAVE
ACCOUNTABILITY
Impunity is the driving force behind injustice. On one side, Brave Accountability means being accountable for our actions when they do harm and collectively cultivating the skills, mechanisms, and humility needed to repair, learn, and grow. It’s about trust, transparency, learning, and taking responsibility.
On the other side, it's a courageous commitment to speaking truth to power — even when uncomfortable. It means creating accountability mechanisms when they are missing or actively discouraged. Ultimately, Brave Accountability is not about punishment — it is a practice of care that ends impunity, an essential aspect of Justice that requires us to hold power, including our own, to account.
From providing needs to fulfilling rights, from corporate social responsibility to corporate accountability, from bank bailouts to prosecutions, from apartheid to civil rights, from tax evasion to tax justice, from impunity to brave accountability
FREE JUSTICE TOOLKIT
We have developed a FREE toolkit to support organisations, movements, and individuals looking to shift towards a Justice Based Approach. A practical resource designed for real-world contexts, whether you're just beginning to question traditional models of aid and development, or you're deep into designing alternative systems, this toolkit offers guiding questions, tools for reflection, and starting points for action. It doesn’t offer easy answers — instead, it invites bold questions, sharp analysis, and the courage to align your work with justice at every level.
WHY NOW?
We are living through a convergence of crises: climate collapse, widening inequality, plummeting funds, growing authoritarianism, and the ongoing erosion of trust in institutions meant to serve the public good. Traditional responses — rooted in charity, international aid, and human rights frameworks — are increasingly inadequate.​ We need new skills, tools, paradigms, and competencies to behave more like system architects than project technicians.
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The aid system often perpetuates the very issues it seeks to address. It can reinforce power imbalances, prioritize donor interests over community needs, and create cycles of dependency rather than empowerment. These systems were never designed to deliver justice; they manage symptoms, protect power, and rarely disrupt the structures that create harm in the first place.​
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As funding declines and crises multiply, we are being called to do more than adapt. We are being called to transform — to move beyond band-aid solutions towards new ways of working that are courageous, community-led, and grounded in justice.​
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The Justice Based Approach is a response to this moment. It is the only holistic approach that fills the gaps in human rights based approaches and humanitarian action. It offers a lens to critically examine existing systems of aid and development paradigms and a framework to build alternatives that center justice, equity, and true empowerment.
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FOUNDATION COURSE
We’ve trained over 2,500 people from over 500 organisations in nearly 100 countries in the Justice Based Approach — from grassroots organisers to UN agencies, from local movements to international NGOs and governments. This isn’t just training — it’s a shift in mindset, strategy, and purpose and the building of a movement to rewrite how we create change.
Participants describe their experience as transformational — offering new ways of thinking, practical skills and tools, renewed energy for justice work, and deeper alignment between their values and actions. For many, it’s the first time they’ve encountered a space that not only challenges harmful systems but also provides tangible, hopeful alternatives rooted in justice.
This heavily subsidized learning journey brings together people from across the world, combining with a programme of financial assistance to ensure it is accessible to all.
Whether you're new to justice work or have been challenging systems for years, the Justice Based Approach offers a powerful lens to rethink your work — and your role in shaping a just world. It is the only holistic approach to humanitarian action, development work, and social and environmental activism designed to meet the scale and complexity of the challenges we face.
JBA IN PRACTICE
The Justice Based Approach is not just a theory — it’s a way of showing up, making decisions, and designing systems that reflect justice in action. It challenges us to reimagine every aspect of our work, from who holds power to how we define success.​
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Traditional aid models often prioritize donor agendas over community needs, leading to ineffective and sometimes harmful interventions. JBA seeks to rectify these issues by emphasizing practices such as:​
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In emergencies: Shifting from food handouts to cash transfers, trusting people to decide what they need.​
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In governance: Replacing top-down policies with community-led decisions and participatory budgeting.​
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In education: Moving from extractive models to holistic, decolonial approaches rooted in lived experience.​
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In economics: Supporting cooperatives, land trusts, and solidarity economies that build shared power.​
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In environmental work: Honoring Indigenous land stewardship over corporate conservation.​
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In accountability: Going beyond risk mitigation to transparent, people-led processes of repair and transformation.
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These are just a few examples of the way JBA challenges every space we occupy — not just to be less harmful, but to be truly just. It invites us to act in ways that align with our values, even when the systems around us do not and ensures we create just futures for our planet and its people.