Reflecting on UNDP’s focus on Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights: What has worked well and what hasn’t?

Welcome!

This discussion room is a space for you to share your feedback on UNDP’s work in the area of Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights (especially the Global Programme on Rule of Law and Human Rights), to review its impact and effectiveness since its establishment in 2008.
Whether you are a current partner, donor, or an independent civil society activist, thematic expert, journalist or academic specializing in rule of law and human rights and advocating for security or justice reform , we want to hear your thoughts on what we have done well and what we could improve upon. We are particularly interested in reflecting on UNDP’s impact, scope, and partnerships but welcome your views on areas that may fall outside of this.

View the 2019 Highlights of the Global Programme.

Please introduce yourself and offer your perspective.

Guiding Questions:

Identifying current and emerging trends on the rule of law and human rights:

What is UNDP doing well in Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights? Where can we improve? Identify new horizons and policy developments?
If you are from a UNDP Country Office or UN entity, and you have received support from the Global Programme; has this assistance been able to accelerate rule of law and human rights programming and catalyze broader support on the ground? Were you satisfied with the level and quality of support provided? What could be improved?
Has UNDP been able to effectively work at the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and offer integrated solutions on the rule of law and human rights? Has the Global Programme assisted these efforts? Can more be done?
How can we better support Transitions in peace operations settings?
Has the UNDP Global Programme remained sufficiently flexible in support to UNDP Country Offices and UN entities in addressing emerging needs and also in staying committed to prioritizing support to crisis-affected contexts?
Do you consider the Crisis Bureau or Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights team as a key partner in your work? What works and where can we do better?
Has the UNDP Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights team been sufficiently effective in “serving the UN system?” How can we better orient ourselves to this aim and strengthen our partnerships?

Objective: To gather feedback from UNDP and a broader constituency on the impact and effectiveness of the UNDP’s focus on rule of law, security and human rights to inform the design of the next phase. To provide a space to help us identify what areas of work require more engagement from the UNDP and UN rule of law, security and human rights community and the challenges and opportunities to advance justice, security, and human rights over the next 5 years.

Outcome: A summary of discussions will feed into UNDP’s policy and programme formulation on the Future We Want to See: Reimagining the Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights and the Inclusive Social Contract.

Comments (62)

Gloria Manzotti • 5 months ago Moderator

Week Five Summary

With your contributions last week, we completed this innovative and interesting discussion!

I have read with interest the exchanges in this discussion room and the examples of rule of law initiatives supported by the UNDP Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights Programme. In addition, we have reflected together on how we can better orient ourselves and strengthen our programming to impact lives, strengthen our strategic partnerships and learn from experiences to enhance our positioning, generating new knowledge and tools for management.

The experience shared by Randall Brenes shows the added value of UNDP as well as the capacities and capabilities installed in our offices in terms of ROL and SGD16. An integrated approach to citizen security: evidence that translates into public policy (POLSEPAZ) and accompanied by strong work in support of the justice sector with a strong focus on rights, diversity and gender.

Marine Malkhasyan from UNDP Armenia highlights the relevance of evidence for action trough the implementation of SDG 16 project. The development of innovative data collection methods to measure the progress of SDG 16 implementation and alignment of SDG 16 to national strategies. And the interesting experience on the use of technologies and how can adapt related to the use of behavior insights in specific thematic areas and how can we be including for COVID-19 response.

Thanks Tania Martinez! UNDP Honduras developed an analysis on SDG 16 in Honduras, this analysis covers the practicalities of available data, what sources can currently be used as proxies, current gaps, and opportunities for policymakers to accelerate the implementation of actions and programs that contribute to SDG 16+.

Also, UNDP Honduras is working on its National Human Development Report on Rule of Law, an important process for positioning key issues on the agenda for the 2021 electoral process. Thank you very much for your contributions Marta Gazideda and Konstantin Sokulskiy.

All efforts are important for us to move forward together as a global team towards 2030. Let the discussions not remain only on this platform. Let's encourage discussions between regions and continue to share among colleagues, country teams and partners! It was a pleasure and we want to invite all of you to continue this rich conversation in other spaces maximizing the learning, knowledge and learning that we have around the world.

Muchas Gracias!

Sofiene Bacha • 6 months ago Moderator

Welcome to this discussion! My name is Sofiene Bacha and I will be the moderator of this room alongside Roqaya Dhaif for the first week. Nicholas Booth, Giorgia Tortora, Gloria Manzotti, Clement Hamon, and Yagiz Oztepe will accompany you during the rest of the consultation. This segment of the discussion deals with your feedback on:

The scope and impact of UNDP's contribution to strengthening the Rule of Law, Security, and Human Rights in Host Countries;
The outcomes and the effectiveness of the UNDP Global Programme on the Rule of Law and Human Rights. For more information on the last achievements of the Global Programme, please see the 2019 Highlights of the Global Programme and the 2018 annual report. This programme is under review and the outcome of this discussion will also inform the design of its next phase (2022-2025).

We are very delighted to welcome your feedback, comments, questions, and thoughts on the ongoing partnerships –including the Global Focal Point on the Rule of Law and other global Task Forces and initiatives– as well as on your experience, good practices, challenges, etc., both in the field and on policy development. We hope also that this interaction will help you connect with other experts from the greater rule of law, security, and human rights community around the world.

We look forward to our interaction and exchange of views, ideas, recommendations, and forward-looking thinking. Thank you!

Alvaro Herrero • 6 months ago

Hola, mi nombre es Álvaro Herrero y soy especialista en temas de justicia y estado de derecho. Quisiera destacar que la contribución del PNUD en la región de América Latina y el Caribe ha sido muy importante. Por su despliegue territorial y su capacidad de brindar apoyo técnico, ha logrado generar una agenda coherente de reformas del sector justicia. No hay otros organismos en la región con esa ventaja comparativa. En tal sentido, ha tenido un rol destacado en la promoción de una agenda integral de acceso a la justicia, tema prioritario en la región, apoyando proyectos innovadores como el Hospital de Derechos, las redes de Centros de Acceso a la Justicia, y los cuerpos de abogados especializados en violencia de género. También ha apoyado la justicia de paz y ha trabajado para llevar la justicia a áreas remotas de muchos países. También ha diseñado estrategias para utilizar el acceso a la justicia en contextos de multiculturalismo

Vale destacar que hay dos áreas en las que PNUD tiene trabajo activo pero donde se abren muchas oportunidades adicionales en el contexto post-COVID19. La primera es fortalecer las capacidades de los poderes judiciales para impulsar procesos de innovación dentro del sistema de justicia. Esto servirá además para consolidar los avances repentinos implementados en el marco del COVID-19. Pero también son necesarias reformas de justicia abierta (transparencia, datos abiertos, participación ciudadana), uso de nuevas tecnologías (inteligencia artificial, aprendizaje de máquinas, automatización) economía del comportamiento. La segunda oportunidad se refiere a generar capacidades en materia de datos acordes a los nuevos desarrollos tecnológicos e institucionales (gobernanza de datos, explotación, etc.), la inclusión de políticas basadas en evidencia y seguir consolidando los esfuerzos para producir datos estadísticos de calidad.

Kenta Inagaki • 6 months ago

Hi Alvaro Herrero thanks so much for your comment. As you touched upon the innovation in the justice sector, which was a theme of Session 5 of the Annual Meeting, I’d like to draw your attention to an excellent example of virtual courts of Bangladesh shared by Sharmeela Rassool in the room 1. https://www.sparkblue.org/comment/24032

I’m too interested in the application of behavioral economics in the rule of law programming. If you know any good examples of that, please share with us. Thank you!

Alvaro Herrero • 6 months ago

Kenta Inagaki

Hola Kenta!

Muchas gracias por la información del caso de Bangladesh!!

Respecto a las experiencias de economía del comportamiento, hay una experiencia pionera y valiosa del PNUD en Chile, trabajando con fiscales para usar behavioral economics para mejorar la permanencia de los casos por violencia del género en el sistema judicial. El problema que deseaban atacar era que muchas veces las mujeres abandonan los casos por recibir "señales no amigables" de los funcionarios judiciales, malos tratos, duración del proceso o falta de información.

Link: https://www.cl.undp.org/content/chile/es/home/presscenter/articles/Noti…

Por otra parte, a finales de 2019, el Behavioral Insights Team (del Reino Unido) junto con el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo lanzaron una iniciativa para usar ciencias del comportamiento también para apoyar a mujeres que fueron víctimas de violencia doméstica. El proyecto buscar lugar más apoyo y mejor trato a las mujeres por parte de los sistemas de justicia y de salud y otros actores estatales que participan en la atención a las mujeres que sufren violencia por parte de sus parejas (intimaste partners).

Link: https://www.bi.team/press-releases/the-behavioural-insights-team-and-th…

Espero sean de utilidad!

Sofiene Bacha • 6 months ago Moderator

Thank you very much Alvaro Herrero for the valuable feedback on the role that UNDP is playing in the LAC region, especially on access to justice and the justice reform. Thank you also for the interesting suggestions to strengthen our engagement in innovation, open justice, and data exploitation, taking advantage of the COVID-19 opportunities.

I am also very happy to see the exchange between you and my colleague Kenta Inagaki, bringing the point on behavioral economics on top of the discussion. The examples in Chili and in LAC are very inspiring and I am sure that bringing this dimension in our programmes will improve the impact of our activities on the population.

Please continue to follow the discussion and to bring in your inspiring thoughts.

Kenta Inagaki • 6 months ago

Dear Alvaro Herrero ,

Thanks so much for quickly responding to my question! I found the initiative by UNDP Chile very interesting as I was working as a prosecutor before joining UNDP. From my experience dealing with SGBV and DV cases, I strongly feel that, as well as laws and institutions, we also must look at people's bias and perceptions which are playing a big role both in the violence itself and the judicial process afterwards. I believe that behavioral insights will tell us a lot how we can change people's mind-sets towards the elimination of such violence. In this regard, I look forward to reading the BIT report. Thanks so much.

I'm flagging this conversation to Ainura Bekkoenova as this point relates to some of the questions asked in the Discussion 3 where she's moderating this week.

Many thanks,

Claudia Nunez • 5 months ago

El PNUD en Perú viene colaborando con el Ministerio de la Mujer y Poblaciones Vulnerables (MIMP) y el BID, en la elaboración de un diagnóstico sobre la problemática del hostigamiento sexual en universidades utilizando la metodología de ciencias del comportamiento. El diagnóstico se basa en el análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo de cinco universidades, a fin de generar una propuesta exploratoria de comportamientos que podrían ser fomentados o desincentivados en materia de hostigamiento sexual dentro de las universidades. La información que se genere será de utilidad para la Dirección General contra la Violencia de Género del MIMP, que viene trabajando la construcción de una estrategia nacional de prevención de violencia de género en cumplimiento de la Política Nacional de Igualdad de Género. El proceso cuenta también con la asistencia técnica del Banco Mundial.

CIDP NGO Sindh Pakistan • 6 months ago

Me Sattar from Community Initiatives for Development in Pakistan-CIDP NGO , as discussed role of law is very important subject and develop societies and countries is follow the role of law but in those countries have not control their boundaries. So many national and international mafias develop influence on the society to no have any role of law, many examples are in Pakistan and other countries. Like in Pakistan, no any follow traffic role, no any follow buildings construction role, no any follow food items quality, no any follow transport quality, no any follow transparency. Govt. developed nice SoPs. But need to proper implement of law from law and force institutes. UNDP Pakistan is working with Government closely since many decades for betterment role law. I think after development strategy with Govt. UNDP should building capacity of direct institutes who are involved in role of law. Second Civil Organisation role is reduced in the UNDP and UNO interventions so I suggest that role of CSOs must be added in the UNDP projects otherwise Govt. and UNDP developed many strategies and output will be zero as here is showing.

UNDP doing very good work in the role of law some links UNDP doing work in Pakistan on role of law.

https://www.pk.undp.org/content/pakistan/en/home/projects/SRLP.html; https://www.pk.undp.org/content/pakistan/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2019/undp-pakistan-and-government-of-japan-agree-for-capacity-buildin.html

Sofiene Bacha • 6 months ago Moderator

Thank you very much CIDP NGO Sindh Pakistan for your feedback on the experience of the civil society in Pakistan. I totally agree with you that our efforts should be oriented to the people and that the institutional reform and capacity building should have a positive impact on people's lives. This is something that UNDP is calling for through what we call "people-centered justice and people-centered security" (please refer to the summary of UNDP Administrator during the Annual Meeting on Rule of Law and Human Rights on Monday 29 June in the comment of my colleagues Sungeun Choi https://www.sparkblue.org/comment/24040).

I could not agree more with the need to engage with civil society in our programmes. Alvaro Herrero mentioned some examples in his feedback on legal aid and access to justice centers in Latin America (https://www.sparkblue.org/comment/24150) and Juan Pablo Gordillo also mentioned citizen security (with a lot of interesting documentation) as a programmatic framework in Latin America also for improving the security of the population by bringing together all the actors, including the civil society, to better understand the causes of the security/justice problems and shape the right solutions (https://www.sparkblue.org/comment/24186).

I invite you to continue the reflection and the discussion in this forum and maybe give more details on the challenges and the perspectives of the collaboration between UNDP and the civil society in Pakistan so that we can adjust our programmes in the country and elsewhere. Thank you.

Juan Pablo Gordillo • 6 months ago

Hi, I´m Juan Pablo Gordillo from RSCLAC, about the question on ¿What is UNDP doing well in Rule of Law, Security and Human Rights?, it is important to remark UNDP´s work on Citizen Security and Peaceful Coexistence in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

A broader view of security and justice, integral, based on the citizen´s expectations and freedom of fear , Rule Of Law principles, and Human Rights based, it was developed jointly with 24 countries (CSOs-governments) for more tan 15 years, and today many governments have a Citizen Security and peaceful coexistence policy. This idea of a public Good, co-responsible among citizens and the state still is reliable, adaptative to different emerging challenges and points at those who may be left behind because of different vulnerabilities and risk factors.

Some key resources:

Sofiene Bacha • 6 months ago Moderator

Thank you very much Juan Pablo Gordillo for your feedback on the citizen security pogramme in LAC. The documents you've shared give a very good idea about this programme and its impact on the security in the region. Your work and the work of your colleagues and your predecessors are very inspiring for UNDP future vision on security. Actually, at the global level, we are working on updating UNDP vision and policy on the people-centred approach and linking it to the progress on the SDG16+.

Gloria Manzotti, Lorena MELLADO, Juliet Solomon and other colleagues are engaged on that and we look forward to continuing this conversation with you and other colleagues working on citizen security, to feed in the policy update that we are starting this year, especially with the new challenges posed by COVID-19. Please continue the reflection with us. Thank you!

Lorena MELLADO • 6 months ago Moderator

¡Colegas del PNUD y red de socios, saludos desde Panamá! Seré la moderadora de este grupo durante esta semana junto con Roqaya Dhaif

Gracias a Sofiene Bacha , hemos tenido comentarios muy interesantes hasta ahora!

Los animo a aprovechar esta oportunidad a través de esta consulta: podemos ayudar a re pensar el trabajo de PNUD en los temas de Estado de Derecho, Seguridad y Derechos Humanos. ¿Consideran que ha sido suficientemente efectivo? ¿Cómo podría mejorar para los próximos 5 años de programación del PNUD? Qué ideas valdría la pena considerar para nuevas áreas de compromiso y alianzas?

Recuerden que pueden continuar cualquiera de las conversaciones ya iniciadas, responder las preguntas que dejamos en la introducción o hacer cualquier comentario relacionado

Envíenos sus experiencias, enlaces a artículos y herramientas útiles, buenas experiencias e ideas!

Sofiene Bacha • 6 months ago Moderator

Week One Summary

Thank you all for your valuable contributions to the discussion during this first week of consultation.

Colleagues highlighted the important role that UNDP is playing in the LAC region, especially on access to justice and the justice reform. Suggestions were brought forward to strengthen UNDP’s engagement in innovation, open justice, and data exploitation, taking advantage of the COVID-19 opportunities.

Case examples and experiences on the use of behavioral economics in the justice sector were shared, with examples from Chile and LAC (resources can be found in the comments above).

Feedback was shared on the experience of civil society in Pakistan and including civil society in UNDP programmes as well as feedback on the citizen security programme in LAC. Here, the importance of applying and implementing people-centered justice and people-centered security in UNDP programmes was emphasized.

The discussion will continue with Lorena this week and I believe that more and more comments will stimulate the feedback, enlighten the evaluation and suggest avenues for reflection on UNDP support on Rule of Law, Security, and Human Rights. Thank you!

Nora Luzi • 6 months ago

Hola colegas:

Saludos desde Buenos Aires! Sugiero que PNUD impulse a nivel regional mayor trabajo en la dimensión de estado de derecho ya que el sistema democrático esta debilitándose cada vez mas. El proceso se advierte en todas las regiones incluido LAC y se ha agravado en el contexto de la pandemia: alta concentración de poder en los ejecutivos, débil rendición de cuentas, poca actividad de los poderes legislativos, de los órganos de control y del poder judicial aumentando los niveles de impunidad y la consecuente desesperanza en la ciudadanía. A disposición para contribuir con iniciativas en este sentido.

Lorena MELLADO • 6 months ago Moderator

Thanks Nora Luzi for your comment regarding the need of promoting Rule of law at regional level and the alerts to the democratic system. It will be great if you can share suggestions on how could UNDP better engage this support

Also great if you can share good experiences on the excellent work you are doing in UNDP Argentina in rule of law!

I think you might find useful the webinar series that UNDP Mexico with Global Network on Electoral Justice are coordinating regarding electoral processes and justice in emergency situations. You can find the link here: https://undp.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYldO2gqTIpHtKOL3xxuKI5xz5LSrmnQtDU

Nora Luzi • 6 months ago

Thank you Lorena.

A couple of ideas:

1. To launch a learning program on Peace, democracy, & rule of law to promote human Development. The institutional role of the judiciary and parliaments should be highlighted. UNDP might partner with donors and IFIs to mobilize funds. Target should be Young and young adults.

2. Rule of Law & Human Development projects to be prioritized by UNDEF in 2020/2021

UNDP Argentina CO provides technical assistance in Access to Justice to the Ministry of Human Rights. The project has a innovative approach since health and justice services are provided from a mobile center to people living in remote and isolated areas in the North and NE of the country. The Project also supports a Network of lawyers specilized in gender violence and partneringwith UNICEF a Network of lawyers specialized in child sexual abuse.

In addition, 3 new initiatives dealing with gun violence prevention, introducing ADR in prisons and Justice services in pandemia times are projects in pipeline.

Cheers,

Nora

Lorena MELLADO • 6 months ago Moderator

Thanks Nora Luzi for your suggestion on learning programmes on Peace, democracy, & rule of law to promote human Development

Also the information that you've shared on justice and human right issues give a very good idea about the innovative focus on justice centered in people, that UNDP is promoting, congratulations!

Alvaro Herrero • 6 months ago

Hola, me parece muy interesante la conversación y todos los intercambios.

En términos de lo que se puede hacer hacia el futuro, existen oportunidades para incorporar herramientas del paradigma de gobierno abierto para fomentar la transparencia, participación ciudadana y la colaboración en los sistemas de justicia. En América Latina, hay una tendencia creciente para incorporar este tipo de herramientas y promover el paradigma de una justicia abierta. Por ejemplo, hay experiencias muy valiosas sobre apertura de datos judiciales a nivel nacional (Argentina: http://datos.jus.gob.ar Colombia: https://www.minjusticia.gov.co/Servicio-al-Ciudadano/Ley_de_Transparenc…) y subnacional (https://datos.tsjbaires.gov.ar).

También hay cortes que funcionan con todas sus sentencias, resoluciones y agendas publicadas en formato de datos abiertos, y otros que usan redes sociales como Twitter o Instagram para mejorar su vínculo con los usuarios y la ciudadanía. Las cortes que utilizan datos abiertos y tienen todas sus decisiones accesibles al público, fueron las que más rápido se adaptaron a los desafíos del COVID-19 y pudieron continuar prestando servicios pese a la cuarentena (https://apolitical.co/en/solution_article/open-justice-pioneering-bueno…). Asimismo, hay ejemplos de la creación de laboratorios de innovación judicial (https://jusbairesabierto.gob.ar) y la realización de ‘hackatones’ para buscar soluciones a problemas del servicio de justicia mediante el uso de datos o visualizaciones. Además, estos espacios pueden servir para el diseño de políticas centrado en las personas.

Otra área donde se puede profundizar y avanzar es la creación y fortalecimiento de áreas dedicadas a la innovación en los poderes judiciales. Si bien ya lo mencioné en un comentario anterior, quería profundizar en este argumento. Por un lado, se puede promover la incorporación de nuevas tecnologías como inteligencia artificial, aprendizaje de máquinas y más, siempre respetando los estándares éticos de protección a los derechos humanos. Existen en América Latina algunas iniciativas muy valiosas sobre uso de inteligencia artificial, como la impulsada por el PNUD en Brasil para mejorar el acceso a la justicia (https://pnudbrasil.exposure.co/inteligencia-artificial-para-fortalecime…) y la implementada por la Corte Constitucional de Colombia para mejorar la eficiencia en la gestión y resolución de los más de 600.000 casos que recibe por año (https://ialab.com.ar/prometeacolombia/). Por otro lado, existen oportunidades para aprender de otras áreas del Estado donde se han creado espacios dedicados a la innovación. Hay buenos ejemplos para imitar en los poderes ejecutivos nacionales (Chile: http://www.lab.gob.cl) y en los gobiernos locales de muchas ciudades de América Latina (Quito: http://linq.quito.gob.ec, Santa Fé: https://www.santafe.gob.ar/ms/gobiernoabierto/colaboracion/santalab/, Nariño: http://labcapital.veeduriadistrital.gov.co/CISNA).

Si fuera posible, me interesaría conocer experiencias de innovación y de justicia abierta de otras regiones.

¡Muchas gracias!

Lorena MELLADO • 6 months ago Moderator

Thank you very much Alvaro Herrero for sharing this interesting experiences on open government and access to justice.

On strengthening capacities in innovation in the judicial powers, UNDP has very interesting experiences on increasing the efficiency of judicial systems by improving electronic case management and monitoring systems in Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan that will be great if colleagues could share Ainura Bekkoenova

Also sharing this blog from UNDP Asia A “new possible” for justice after COVID-19: towards digital, open and inclusive courts" that showcase some interesting experiences!

https://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/blog/2020/a-_new-possible_-for-justice-after-covid19--towards-digital--ope.html

Gloria Manzotti • 6 months ago Moderator

Una iniciativa interesante desde el Caribe, el estudio de necesidades del sector de justicia en 9 países de la región. Conocimiento orientado a la acción y construido de manera colaborativa desde las experiencias de cada país. Las recomendaciones serán un insumo clave para la conversación regional y el alcance de consensos estratégicos y programáticos. Una oportunidad para impulsar las transformaciones institucionales necesarias para alcanzar una justicia inclusiva, transparente y con respuestas de calidad centrada en las personas. Un análisis de gran valor que habilitará una renovada agenda regional y en los países de la región. Una oportunidad para - en el contexto COVID19- asumir el triple reto de (i) tranformar los procesos, (ii) impulsar la digitalizacion para garantizar la operatividad del sistema, (iii) asegurar el debido proceso y acceso para todas las personas (sin dejar a nadie atrás).

Nicholas Booth • 6 months ago Moderator

Hello everyone and welcome to the third week of our consultations. I'm delighted to be your moderator this week and I'll be joined by Clement Hamon and Yagiz Oztepe . A big word of thanks to Lorena MELLADO for her excellent moderation last week and to all participants for great discussions.

This week, I hope we can continue the discussions on the new elements which you would like to see reflected in the Global Programme of the future, including the awareness of the opportunities and risks from digital and other emerging technologies; holding states accountable for maintaining the rule of law and human rights even in circumstances of emergency; and using behavioural insights research to increase the effectiveness of the justice system's response to violence against women and girls.

I hope we can also hear more perspectives from those who have benefitted from - or worked with - the Global Programme in the past, such as justice providers and civil society, with your views on what has worked well and what you would like to see improved going forward.

Looking forward to engaging with you all for another week of inspiring conversations!

Nicholas Booth

Marta Gazideda • 5 months ago

Dear colleagues, here are some thoughts/reflections from UNDP Kosovo on RoL/AJ, courtesy of the team (Ardian, Gjina, and Sihana) on what has worked in our case:

Rule of Law and Access to Justice are one of the key areas of UNDP’s work in Kosovo since 2004. UNDP’s work on Rule of Law is based on strong partnerships with Kosovo institutions and international stakeholders working on rule of law. Within its rule of law program, Rule of Law and Access to Justice are among the main political conditions for Kosovo in the European Integration process, which calls for ensuring that courts and prosecution are effective, independent, accountable and impartial, and free from political influence. The UNDP rule of law program contributes to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, specifically goals 16 in relation to promoting peace, justice and strong institutions, and goals 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

By working under one umbrella, jointly with other UN agencies including, UNICEF, UNWOMEN, and UNFPA, the UNDP has managed to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and the impact of the program. This collaborative approach ensured coordination in support to institutions between UN agencies and improved impact of delivery of content and messages during trainings. Equally important, such collaborative approach between the UN Agencies, contributed in implementing addressing certain targets and indicators within the UN Common Development Plan 2016-2020.

Over the last ten years, the Kosovo judicial system has made considerable progress in consolidating the rule of law institutions, developing the necessary legal infrastructure, and increasing the professional capacities of legal actors. As also noted by the 2019 European Commission Report, Kosovo has improved its legal framework in the area of rule of law: the revision of the Criminal Code ; the amendments of the basic laws on judiciary , improving the judicial transparency, accountability, and responsibility; the development of the related secondary legislation ; the new Law on Mediation are all important achievements for improving the efficiency, transparency and accountability of the judiciary requiring now robust implementation.

The policy level: addressing the policy and coordination aspects between justice institutions, and harmonization of strategic planning. This results in an increased efficiency on the implementation of reforms and the adoption of legal framework.
The capacity development and institutional reform in the justice sector: focusing on providing tailor-made institutional support to increase institutional and individual capacities, efficiency and accountability.
Access to justice and service delivery: focusing on increasing access to justice for Kosovo’s population through legal aid, mediation, promotion and implementation of human rights, and the backlog reduction in both courts and prosecution offices.

Rule of law depends on a variety of factors including judiciary institutions, government agencies, non-public legal actors, non-governmental organizations, private sector and citizens. The impact on rule of law is therefore dependent on interventions from all these angles. UNDP’s intervention was primarily focused on supporting institutions, but effort was also placed in empowering non-legal actors and improving access to justice for vulnerable groups. The intervention from multiple angles helps identify issues in depth and address them from a variety of perspectives such as institutional coordination, capacity building, rule of law reform, Mediation and Public Outreach. This approach has also had a positive cross-institutional effect, by way that one institution i.e. Ombudsperson can rely on data from Agency of Free Legal Aid, or vice versa. The joint work with the Academy of Justice and the Court of Appeal in developing the Bulletin of the case Law (guidelines for judicial practice), supported the first instance courts to improve the quality of their work in decision hence increasing the number of verified cases by the Court of Appeal. The development of the Human Rights database also positively impacted the work of judicial staff, the local and central administrative institutions, including the CSOs, and law students. The support to one institution has positively affected the work of the other institution.

In addition, UNDP has supported the development of (a) case management system for the Agency of Free Legal Aid; (b) E-learning training module for the Academy of Justice, and; (c) Human Rights database for the Ombudsperson. All these institutions were of the view that the such digital solutions have improved effectiveness and efficiency and has enabled the design and implementation of data-based solutions. As such they present an important foundation to build on their relevance and impact through future interventions.

What has worked well and what hasn’t

Staff embedding should be done with prospect of employment: During the course of the rule of law program UNDP has embedded staff in key rule of law institutions. While all of the institutions were of the view that these embedded staff have increased their performance and quality of justice, the effects of this support are visible only during the course of the project implementation and happens to return to point zero when the project is completed. UNDP’s support was often required because the institutions either did not plan or had no funding to deliver a specific good or services. For example, the institutions did not have funding to organize a workshop, or facilitate a training, or to hire a legal expert to help drafting of regulations, or to develop or re-design a digital platform. UNDP’s approach so far has been to fill in the gaps for funding. In the future, consideration should be given to advising the institutions to plan, allocate and spent own funding for goods and services.
Capacity building activities should take into account sustainability issues: Judges, Prosecutors, legal officers and practitioners require regular and updated training on matters of judicial practice. The capacity building activities organized by UNDP including civil law training with judges, human rights training with prosecutors, orientation training with Kosovo Serb judges, and Bar exam training for candidates who entered the exam, while generally deemed effective by the key informants, are generally limited in reach and scope, and would not fill the gaps and needs for training in the long term. UNDP worked with AJ to conduct a training needs assessment for the judicial institutions and design training programs and modules, but the extent to which these resources are utilized is questionable. In the future, consideration should be given to strengthening the capacity of AJ to provide trainings themselves, including development of a roster of trainers, allocation of budget for and recruitment of domestic and international trainers and more precisely to strengthening the communication and coordination on trainings (including, compilation of training programs, organization of trainings, and trainers’ performance), activities between the Academy and the governance bodies of judiciaries, namely the KJC and KPC, among others. Also, to research and analyze feasibility of promoting and enhancing the use of justice E-earning platforms established within the Academy to maximizing training opportunities through distance.

Rgs, Marta

CIDP NGO Sindh Pakistan • 6 months ago

Women throughout the world suffer from violence. They experience physical harm, loss of life, emotional and psychological pain, lost productivity, and much more. Society suffers the economic cost of treating and rehabilitating women survivors of violence, healing emotionally damaged children and families of survivors, the loss of women’s contribution to development, & prosecuting perpetrators. There are also the unquantifiable costs of traumatized individuals & dysfunctional families. While it may be pervasive, violence against women is not inevitable. Both governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders have a central role in reducing violence for the benefit of the whole society. Sexual harassment is a form of psychological and/or physical violence against women currently pervasive in colleges, universities, workplaces & public spaces in Pakistan.

Sexual harassment in Pakistan’s public spaces remains a neglected issue and is looked upon as an expected part of everyday life. The cost of this type of violence has been reflected in serious personal health, social, and economic repercussions as it inadvertently affects lifestyle choices, social capital, and ability of women and girls to continue education or join the work force. Ultimately, in Pakistan, it shrinks economic growth, and eats into public budgets.

This technical-proposal is a result of a new partnership that guided two organization (CIDP) NGO into consensus on using data science and AI artificial intelligence for hammering the sexual harassment issues at universities, colleges, workplaces and public spaces in Pakistan. The purpose of this proposal document is to response CIDP’s request for proposal in order to create a strategy based software platform & mobile app to end sexual harassment in colleges/universities, workplaces and public spaces in Sindh province of Pakistan. This platform goals, objectives, and activities will be consistent with its evidence-based strategy to end sexual harassment. The proposed anti-sexual harassment platform will consist of an executive secretariat, as well as the coordination and programming with similar interest organizations and networks.

Formulating a clear strategy that can be internalized by partners, supporters and networks across the board is imperative, because although violence against women (VAW) is a growing phenomenon in Pakistan, studies have shown that technology powered prevention efforts can be both effective and cost-effective in regional and national scenarios at educational institutions, public/private organizations and at public spaces in Pakistan.

What is street harassment and should it be criminalized?

Street harassment is sexual, gender-based, and bias-motivated harassment that takes place in public spaces like the street, the supermarket, and the bus stop. It’s not about sexual gratification, it’s about power. It constantly reminds historically subordinated groups – women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people – of their vulnerability to being assaulted in public spaces. We believe that we should not criminalize street harassment because criminal law and punishment are disproportionately applied to people of color, low-income individuals, and trans and gender-nonconforming people. It is our role as advocates to steer policymakers away from measures that would increase criminalization that predominantly affects these groups, and toward measures that engage communities in prevention.

What is online harassment?

Online harassment includes a wide range of targeted behaviors including: threats, continued hateful messages, doxing, DDoS attacks, swatting, defamation, and more. Online harassment can target (or come from) a group or individual and often has the expressed purpose of having the individual or group leave the internet, take down their content, or dissuade them from publicly having a point of view. We believe in a free internet where individuals feel safe to connect and speak freely, regardless of their religion, identity, or political ideology.

Sexism, harassment, & discrimination in colleges, universities and workplaces are issues that have been around as long as we remember or since women have been in the workplace. Sexual assault is far too common & often never reported in rural or urban scenarios. The process of reporting can feel isolating or worse, re-traumatizing. Reporting also comes with its own set of personal & professional risks.

When it comes to preventing harassment in the colleges, universities and workplaces in Pakistan, most of the sexual harassment activists and experts we spoke to agreed that most institutions/organizations or sexual harassment reporting-mechanisms fail on two fronts: creating fair environment where employees or students feel comfortable reporting any incidents of sexual harassment or discrimination, & having an effective process to hold the perpetrators accountable.

People often think that harassment is just an interaction between the harasser and the target. We know that’s not true. So many incidents of harassment as well as the overall culture of violence that it fuels, can be silently perpetuated by people who witness or know about the abuse and do nothing.

PROPOSED INNOVATION: FOR ELIMINATING THE FEAR OF REPORTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT. (Supported by UNDP Asia Pacific under N-peace)

Our proposed technology initiative (mobile app) empowers survivors, providing options and allowing disclosure in a way that feels safe. Our unique matching system securely connects victims of the same perpetrator to identify repeat offenders and to get useful information to deal with risk situations on public spaces and/or workplaces.

CIDP DIGITAL SOLUTION OF WOMEN AND GIRLS HARASSMENT REPORTING

The proposed cloud based software and its android and IOS mobile apps will make it easy to report and access information to deal with sexual harassment at universities, schools, colleges, workplaces and public spaces in Pakistan.

Additionally the proposed app features including posting safety tips, marking places to indicate resources like hospitals and police stations and building a community through partnered events, public discussions and robust digital media strategy.

Initially the proposed app would be launched with 1000 sensitized user base in 24 higher secondary girls colleges and 02 universities in Sindh province of Pakistan, and the students, staff and parents would be allowed to access this app and share their experiences, incidents and stories with or without their identity.

At the backend of the software a web-interface based dashboard will show summery of all reported data where authorized users can generate customized reports based on different indicators i.e. geography, incident types, timeline.

The applicant organizations will produce 02 public reports during the proposed period, these periodic reports will include the analysis of crowd sourced data i.e. geo-mapped spots (HarassMaps), showing density of reported SH incidents. Organization/institution based HarassMap profiles. The same reports will be shared through digital and mainstream media followed by public talks with journalists, #Metoo activists and active citizens at open spaces.

The AI powered data analysis reports will help journalists, advocacy organizations, activists, and data scientist to transform crowd sourced citizen data into useful forms of action stories safety guides, and into advocacy material to raise voice against sexual harassment at large.

THE PROPOSED STRATEGY

There are many key players involved in combating sexual harassment in Pakistan, we believe technology is essential to drive a change in culture. Setting a robust strategy can help create the necessary crowd-sourced data platform and offers direction from the onset. This minimizes the overlap of activities, especially when multiple programs and strategies are in action. The strategy is the road map to effective data-secretariat execution of evidence-based priorities. It sets out the projects purpose and solidifies plans on an agreed basis, relates activities and serves as a reference point during implementation, monitoring and evaluation. A written strategy document can be shared with others, discussed and adjusted as the action progresses towards planned outcomes. It identifies the approaches, methods and tools to be used to achieve goals, and is a key element for transparent communication with other stakeholders, and fundraising from institutional donors/supporters.

The proposed software/mobile app would be available on three fronts web/android and Apple store, users can download, sign-up and view reported cases/data with detailed analytics, where citizen gathered /cowed sourced data would be visualized in a user friendly forms i.e. charts, maps, data bars and other visual forms of information sharing.

DIGITAL MEDIA STRATEGY

The both partnering organizations will invest their creative resource in creation of content for policy and media mobilization that will help to raise voices and to create environment for encouraging public talks on sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women in Pakistan. The proposed digital media strategy would help launch of this AI technology based solution, and for sustainable outreach to target audiences. We will engage activists, senior citizens, journalists, active citizens and other stakeholders to speak-up through planned digital media story forms to encourage public discussions on sexual harassment and report sexual violence and join our movement in making public spaces safe for all especially women and girls in Pakistan.

USER FRIENDLY WORKFLOW

GUI Graphic User Interface of this app would be designed with simplicity and minimal design approach, with visually guided user actions, additionally this app would be available in multiple languages and can be translated into more languages.

TO LOGIN

Download the app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

The first time you open the app you’ll need to create an account or login through Facebook or Google account.
To create a new account, enter your email address and a strong password with at least 8 characters, one capital letter, and one number or special character.
Using the drop-down menus, select your language and your local city/college/university/workplace. If your area/workplace not available in app, click “none in my area.” That will create demand to enable app in your city/institution.
You will receive an automated confirmation email once you’ve finished signing up.
Login to the app using the email and password you just set.
TO ACCESS OTHERS’ STORIES AND SHOW SUPPORT
Every time the user logins will be automatically directed to the “Home” page. This will show a map based on user’s GPS location. User can tap on the dots on the map to read other people’s stories. User can also search for stories in a specific location by typing in an address or area in the search bar at the top of the screen.
When user click on and read someone’s story, the user can tap “I’ve Got Your Back” to let the person know they’re not alone.