Search Results for: open society

To the Editor: Gary Haugen and Victor Boutros argue convincingly for a new, third-generation approach to international human rights that focuses on the enforcement of laws at the country level. But their assertion that no human rights organizations or government agencies measure success by their “ability to bring effective law enforcement to local communities in…

On May 29th, the Global Legal Empowerment Network organized a webinar where we had the opportunity to talk and discuss with experts about the content and relevance of the recently adopted Escazú Agreement, a powerful tool to strengthen environmental democracy, advance justice in environmental matters and protect environmental defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean. For the webinar, the following…

The Global Legal Empowerment Network, which Namati convenes, brings over 7,500 individuals and 2,000 organizations from 160 countries together to tackle the most pressing justice challenges of our time. When a domestic worker is denied her wages or a community’s drinking water is poisoned by toxic runoff, we stand with them. We empower them to…

By HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. To address long-term development in a way that is authentic to the Arab world, countries in the region will need to break free from the practices of the past. As the Arab Spring showed, the consequences of ignoring the voices of the marginalized can cause profound instability.

On March 22, 2011, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) found Kenya to be in violation of the African Children’s Rights Charter. The case and verdict were based on the discriminatory rules and practices applied to Nubian children that denied them formal recognition of their Kenyan nationality. Without…

For 50 years access to justice has been guaranteed as a basic human right under international law. Yet for hundreds of millions of people around the world, this right is not their reality. Many countries have either failed to enact sufficient laws at the national level or failed to effectively implement them. As is often…

Wolfensohn was the ninth president of the World Bank Group (1995-2005) and served as Special Envoy for Gaza Disengagement for the Quartet on the Middle East. As president of the World Bank, he travelled to more than 120 countries in order to pursue the challenges facing the World Bank in regard to poverty and environmental issues. He successfully…

For millions of people around the world, human rights violations are part and parcel of everyday life. Sexual violence, discrimination in housing, unwarranted dismissal from employment, unfair evictions, denial of child support, and police harassment are only a few such violations. These have a particularly harsh impact on people whose health is compromised, and on people society often excludes—like sex workers, people who use drugs, patients nearing death, Roma, and people living with HIV.

This report shows the potential to transform this dynamic, profiling 11 access to justice projects based in Indonesia, Kenya, Macedonia, Russia, South Africa, and Uganda. These projects use a range of approaches to make the law meaningful for marginalized people and to improve their health.

Today, we launch the first in a ten-part interview series exploring the practice of legal empowerment in the Middle East. Our series begins with Abdul Elgadi, who discusses grassroots efforts to turn Al Zawiri prisons over to the Libyan state.

In Indonesia, Clinical Legal Education (CLE) programs are enhancing the education of young lawyers and nourishing communities by spreading legal wherewithal, writes Namati Network Guidance Committee member Uli Parulian Sihombing.