Empowering Women: Real Tools, Real Change (Part II)

Two weeks ago I wrote about the importance of Global Rights’ groundbreaking online database project in Morocco.  This week, that project was featured in Women’s eNews in the case of Amina Filali's suicide.

Global Rights Maghreb team and local partners at the
Moroccan Parliament for the Amina Filali sit-in

As you may know, Amina was a 16 year old Moroccan girl who was forced to marry her rapist in order to preserve the honor of her family. Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code allows a “kidnapper” to marry his victim if she is a minor, even though legal marriage age in Morocco is 18. Amina ended her life last week because of this outdated law.

The story in Women’s eNews highlights how our public online court decision database will provide valuable information on whether or not cases involving women are being decided and implemented fairly, and can hold judges accountable for how they apply the law.

We hope that our database will help create positive change in the Moroccan judicial system that was too late for Amina Filali.

Click here to read the full article.

- Susan

Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth

“Karibu au Burundi. Karibu. Cinq-cents francs. Merci.”

On a quick dash out of the Global Rights office in Burundi on my third work-packed day here in Bujambura, I stopped to buy a bunch of small, extremely sweet bananas from a woman sitting on the curb. She has no shoes, but the most genuinely welcoming smile. We both speak in a foreign language, I realize, and she may be using the few international words she knows (some kiSwahili, some French with a very distinct rhythm).

Burundian man carries bananas

This is Megan Chapman, Global Rights’ Access to Justice Legal Fellow, here in Burundi to help launch two in-country partnerships with local lawyers undertaking strategic litigation in the national judicial system. As I stay up late at night to struggle through voluminous tomes of the consolidated laws and codes of Burundi, daytime interactions like this one are an essential touchstone. The laws I am reading are written in a language many Burundians do not speak, let alone read. Counting the number of bananas in the basket and multiplying by the price I just paid, this woman likely earns no more than $2 per day, meaning court and legal fees are most definitely out of reach.

So, how do the many human rights guarantees in Burundi’s Constitution and the mechanisms outlined in its complex body of laws and codes translate into justice for people like this banana vendor?

These are the law-reality gaps that Global Rights’ country offices in places like Burundi confront every day. Our strategic litigation project, for example, aims to work with local partners to make creative and strategic use of the promises contained in Burundi’s Constitution, laws, procedures, and international human rights obligations to help victims of human rights abuses seek justice and reparations. The strategic goal is to illustrate and confront real barriers to access to justice through the country’s formal system: grave crimes that are never investigated or prosecuted; cases that disappear into a black hole after years of waiting and prodding and waiting some more; judgments that are never enforced.

We are lucky to work with many strong and dedicated activists within Global Rights’ offices and through our partnerships who have a deep understanding of local challenges and a vision for gradual change: teammates like Thierry Kambere, a Congolese jurist who has worked with Global Rights for six years and is about to return from Burundi to Congo to continue his access to justice work there; and local partners like Campagne pour les Droits de l'Homme (CADRHO), with whom I met today, which under the auspices of our strategic litigation project will be carrying forward a six-year-old struggle for justice and reparations for the family members of 34 people killed by the military in Muyinga province in 2006.

Global Rights’ Director of Programs, Mary Wyckoff, has analogized our access to justice work as building a bridge from two ends in hopes that someday the two ends meet in the middle. My banana vendor friend would most likely benefit from community based paralegal services such as those Global Rights’ partners provide in Uganda, Nigeria, and Morocco that focus on building awareness, conflict resolution, and access where formal institutions may be scarce. Our strategic litigation project starts on the other side of the bridge, striving to make state justice institutions more accountable to those seeking access. The theory is thus one that balances immediate solutions and long-term change.

As for tomorrow, maybe I’ll try out my first word in Kirundi when buying bananas: urakoze (thank you). 


- Megan


Posted by Megan Chapman

Empowering Women: Real Tools, Real Change

It’s always exciting when we can put tools into the hands of women that will create real change. For the women of Morocco that tool is our Online Court Decision Database.  We are thrilled to feature it today on International Women’s Day. 

Women at our previous Online Court Decision Database
 training learn how to collect court decisions 

For almost two years, we have been working with hundreds of local NGOs and lawyers from across Morocco to develop an online database to track court decisions pertaining to women’s rights. 

This incredibly powerful tool will be used to analyze court decisions and provide concrete examples of the best human rights–legal arguments and judicial decisions on behalf of women and their rights.  The easily-accessible arguments and decisions will provide a rich resource for lawyers and judges to use to help in cases affecting women.

This tool will provide the only publicly accessible, online database of women’s rights court decisions in the country and the first of its kind in the Arabic-speaking world. 

Next week, our Maghreb team is excited to bring together 20 local lawyers and NGO members to begin the training process on how to collect, monitor and document domestic court decisions on women's rights issues.

What’s really neat about this training is that it will unite mainly male lawyers with younger grassroots level women’s associations, contributing to a greater engagement in women’s rights issues by the lawyers, and enhancing young women activists’ legal knowledge and access to the court systems (usually quite inaccessible). This exchange is rare in Morocco and we are proud to be paving the way in this essential collaboration for women’s rights!

Be sure to visit our Facebook page next week to see photos of the training in action! 

With its partners, Global Rights is creating an amazing tool that will benefit current and future generations of women as they advocate for their rights. We are fostering an environment where women are inspired to create change.  We want to thank our local women’s organizations for making this a reality!

• Association Tawaza pour le Plaidoyer de la Femme (Tetouan)
• Association Amal pour la Femme et le Développement (El Hajeb)
• Association El Amane pour le développement de la femme (Marrakech)
• Association Tafoukt Souss pour le développement de la femme (Agadir)
• Association des jeunes Avocats (Khemisset)
• Tafiil Moubadarat (Taza)
• Comité des jeunes avocats (Beni Mellal)
• Comité des jeunes avocats (Ouarzazate)
• Comité des jeunes avocats (Errachidia)

- Susan

Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth

Transitional Justice: Civil Society Has a Voice in Burundi

I was excited to get the photos from our Burundi Country Director, Louis-Marie Nindorera, who led a training on Transitional Justice last week. 

What’s happening in Burundi is historic.  These photos help make it real.  

Training participants

Throughout Burundi’s history, recurrent outbursts of ethnic violence have been followed by large-scale repression. The truth about the past remains unaddressed.  Burundi’s ethnic communities have been steeped in one-sided accounts of the past that hold the “other” ethnic group accountable, seeding the ground for the next round of devastating ethnic violence.

Now that vicious cycle could be coming to an end. 

After  a devastating inter-ethnic conflict that claimed more than 100,000 lives over 15 years (1993-2008), the Burundian government is on a fast track to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which was called for in the Arusha Accord in 2000.

We believe that civil society has a critical role to play in ensuring that the voices of all Burundians – particularly those of victims - are heard in the TRC process.  With funding from USAID, Global Rights helped to establish the Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Network on Transitional Justice in 2006 to increase civil society’s understanding of, support for, and participation in the transitional justice process.

When Burundian authorities suddenly set their ambitious schedule last year to establish the TRC, we were concerned that civil society’s voices were being left out.  Fortunately, Louis-Marie was able to hit the ground running because he and the NGO Network have been a powerful voice in the intervening years to make sure that accountability remained on the political agenda.

A training member receives
 her certificate of participation

The first thing Louis Marie and his partners did was to create an electronic forum where all documents about the TRC are maintained and accessible to all the network members – the first of its kind in Burundi. 

Then, last week, twenty-five participants representing nine civil society organizations took part in the three-day training in Bujumbura.  Together, the group began to identify possible indicators of rising social tension that may occur before the TRC is established so that the cause of the tension can be addressed. 

The participants also reviewed the implementation plan of the pending TRC legislation to assess its feasibility.  They also designed an easy-to-use template that they will use to document and monitor human rights violations that could occur before and after the TRC is established, as well as to assess the effective implementation of the TRC legislation. 

Their work has just begun and they have a big job ahead.  Four follow up sessions will take place throughout the year with a lot of work in between.  I will keep you apprised of Louis-Marie’s and the NGO Networks’ progress on this historic undertaking. 

- Susan

Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth

“Without women, there is no peace.”

“Without women, there is no peace.  We are part of the solution.” 

Ms. Afifa Azim (left) with Justine Rukeba Mbabazi,
Global Rights' Afghanistan Country Director

That is what Ms. Afifa Azim, General Director of Afghan Women’s Network (AWN), said to me last week when I attended the launch of Global Rights’ fourth Legal Advice Bureau (LAB) in Afghanistan in the city of Nangarhar, which is in an eastern province bordering Pakistan.  AWN is our partner organization in running the Nangarhar LAB.

It’s Jeff Le again. As my visit to Afghanistan comes to a close, I wanted to share another update that was particularly meaningful. 

What does the opening of our Legal Advice Bureau have to do with women and peace?  Our LABs are designed to provide legal assistance to the most poor and marginalized, primarily women, in family court. 

We believe empowering women to access justice so that they can assert and protect their rights is a potent tool to overcome power imbalances in society.  A more balanced society – with women fully participating in the life of the community – is a more peaceful society. 

Ms. Azim explained to me how our LAB can pave the way for change:

“The LAB is the tool used to help women and the poor directly.  Helping to advise and represent clients in court allows for grassroots change for the community.  Through the LAB, we are also working with local leaders to educate them on how women’s and human rights do not oppose values of Islam.  Rather, they are complementary.

The Nangarhar LAB allows us to build a coalition and groundswell of support to promote change at the policy level.  Actual implementation will be more effective than research. This is the only way we can help the Afghan Government implement what they promised.

With the upcoming transition years in Afghanistan, women must be a part of the process.  In Bonn, the international community understood this and gave us a platform to speak.  Our voice was heard.  Without women, there is no peace.  We are part of the solution.”

I couldn’t agree more.  Global Rights is proud to be partnering with AWN and we grateful that so many key officials joined us at the launch of our Legal Advice Bureau, including Deputy Nangarhar Governor, Mohammad Hanif Gardiwal; Chief of Court of Appeals, Mr. Fazal Hadi Fazeli; Chief of Justice Department, Mahmoud Khalil; and Chief of the Independent Human Rights Commission, Dr. Rafiullah Baidar.

We’re off to a great start!  Thank you for your support.

- Jeff

Posted by Jeff Le

Filling a Need 24/7

Hello from Afghanistan!  I’m Jeff Le.  Normally, I’m based in Washington, D.C. supporting Global Rights’ development and communications efforts, but I was fortunate to have the opportunity to come to Afghanistan. I’m here to learn more about how Global Rights is helping to strengthen the legal system through its Practical Legal Education and legal advocacy and assistance programs.

This past weekend, my Afghan colleague Shakir Sibghatullah and I visited Herat - a charming city in Western Afghanistan best known for its famous silk and saffron.

The three defense lawyers (right)

While we enjoyed the fantastic weather (Kabul is snowy and cold), we came to Herat to visit our Legal Advice Bureau (LAB).  Global Rights’ Herat Legal Advice Bureau funded by the U.S. Department of State, is one of four LABs building the capacity of Afghan local partners in Kabul, Herat, Mazar and Nangarhar provinces to assist women and marginalized communities secure access to legal services and assert their legal rights in family court.

Since August 2011, the Herat LAB. led by our partner, Voice of Women Organization, has provided legal advice on 48 family cases, 14 criminal and civil cases, and provided court representation to 26 clients.  They also work closely with the Afghan Ministry of Justice’s Legal Aid Department and international legal aid organizations to refer cases when they are more high profile and require additional resources.

We had a chance to speak with the three LAB defense lawyers, Khatera, Somaya and Faisal, who are supporting these disenfranchised communities.  Despite being in a deeply rooted conservative society, these women lawyers are determined to help their people accessing to justice.

“We’re working so closely with people in desperate need.  They come from poverty and in bad circumstances.   They suffer from violence and they fear for their future.  We’re trying to help where we can,” said Khatera.

Faisal chimed in and spoke about his experience on the job.

“It’s really a 24-7 job.  You’ll get phone calls in the middle of the night.  We’re filling a need in our community and they trust us to help them, ” said Faisal.
 
Somaya spoke of the mentorship and advice they receive during weekly information sessions with Global Rights Human Rights Legal Practitioners.

“Some of these cases are very complex.  Many times, we need a respected senior legal advisor for their advice.  I am learning all the time.  It gives us the confidence and the support we need to help."

I was really inspired by their dedication.  They’re working in tough conditions with a lot of pressure. Also, they’re not just sitting at their desks.  These lawyers are continuing to outreach to communities in the Herat general public.  In November, they worked with the Ministry of Justice to implement trainings on the importance of legal awareness and the basics of property and dowry.

It was fantastic to see how our staff is working to give the LAB the support it needs to do this great work.  The impact the LAB is having on lives in Herat is very clear.

- Jeff

Posted by Jeff Le

Rights Restored: Lives Improved

As I sit at my desk and read about the case of Mrs. T. E. and her family in Bundibugyo, Uganda, I am amazed that lives so far away can be so impacted by the work of Global Rights.

Let me back up a little.  A year ago, our Uganda Country Director, Donald Rukare, formally launched our paralegal training in Bundibugyo, one of the most remote and under-resourced regions of Uganda.

Global Rights began its capacity building there because the people of Bundibugyo had almost no access to legal or paralegal services. After doing an assessment and consulting with the community, local residents told us that violence against women, sexual abuse and neglect of children, and disputes related to land ownership including women’s access to property ownership as the most pressing human rights concerns.

In response, Global Rights designed a targeted pilot paralegal training program for three local partner organizations. We trained fifteen representatives of our partners using a manual Don specifically developed for Bundibugyo.  In turn, our partners – with our technical and financial support – trained 42 volunteers who now provide paralegal services in communities in three of the fifteen sub-counties in the District.

Now comes the story of Mrs. T. E. 

Last summer, Mrs. T. E. approached one of our partners, Child Concern Initiative (CCIO) for help related to a land dispute with her former husband.  Mrs. T. E. learned about CCIO’s paralegal services from a radio program in which our partners explained the types of legal problems with which they provide help, including those related to land.

CCIO Paralegals

When meeting with a CCIO paralegal, Mrs. T. E. explained that her former husband had sold all of the family’s land held in customary ownership, leaving her children without any means by which to make a living. To resolve this problem, the paralegal convened a meeting of Ms. T. E., her former husband, the buyer, and the Local Council. During the meeting, CCIO’s paralegal provided information about land rights and property ownership and answered questions.


As a result of the meeting, the sale was cancelled and the land was returned to Mrs. T. E and her children.  Now they can continue to farm and will not be dispossessed of land that is rightfully theirs.

This is just one example of how we work to make sure those who are the most poor and marginalized can have access to justice.  Our goal is to build human rights capacity – like that of CCIO – and leave behind a culture that benefits from, supports and defends rights for future generations in their communities. 

Susan


Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth