The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) is the only global intergovernmental organization exclusively devoted to promoting the rule of law to advance peace and sustainable development. IDLO works to enable governments and empower people to reform laws and strengthen institutions to promote peace, justice, sustainable development and economic opportunity. IDLO has experience working in more than 90 countries around the world with various legal systems. Since 2003, IDLO has worked with the Afghan Government, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the international community to strengthen access to justice, uphold human rights, expand legal capacity, and promote local ownership. Under the Supporting Access to Justice in Afghanistan (SAJA) project, IDLO was contributing to the effectiveness of criminal justice institutions in Afghanistan and their ability to prevent gender-based violence and protect the rights of survivors. After the fall of the Islamic Republic Government in August 2021, the SAJA project has been realigned to support the Afghan CSOs working in the justice sector area, in order for them to remain viable and effectively protect the human rights of all Afghans, specifically the rights of women and girls.
The collapse of the Afghanistan Government led to a weakening of the overall justice sector, as skilled staff of CSOs, judges, and prosecutors evacuated the country for fear of retribution. This was exacerbated due to the fact that after assuming power, the de facto authorities (DFA) have been struggling to articulate a cohesive vision of the law and an acceptable justice system. A recent Amnesty International report1 says that post-August 2021, there has been a rise in the number of people in detention who are for the most part without access to legal representation. The role of CSOs that were historically involved in defending these people has become even more important in this context but due to a lack of funding these CSOs are not able to restore their activities or to operate fully as they were in the previous Government.
In recognition of the current situation, IDLO intends to financially support service delivery organizations to enable them to provide competent and accessible legal services to women and girls, ethnic minorities and those facing human rights violations.
Hence, IDLO, as part of the SAJA project will provide financing to Sub-Projects that contribute to the achievement of IDLO programming objectives in the following areas:
▪ Objective 2.1: Justice sector civil society organizations have access to funding required to provide services to women and girls, ethnic minorities, and others at risk of human rights violations
Interested organizations are invited to use the standard Sub-Project Concept Note Template and the Applicant Declaration Template in accordance with the rules set out in this notice.
Deadline for submission of application: 5 September 2022 5 p.m. (AFT)
