International Development Law Organization

Legal Empowerment

Rights mean little if those entitled to them are not aware they exist. Due process is of doubtful value when you are illiterate, or unable to understand the proceedings. Courts are next to worthless for those who cannot afford the bus fare to reach them. Nor should justice be about courts alone. For all these reasons, legal empowerment is crucial. Part of IDLO's bottom-up (or demand side) approach, it involves equipping people with the knowledge, confidence and skills to realize their rights. Even as we work to improve the functioning of justice systems, we strengthen citizens' capacity to press for justice from below.

The rule of law only exists to the extent that it works for all.

Strengthening Access to Justice through Legal Aid in Indonesia

In 2011, Indonesia adopted a law on legal aid which includes a national budget for legal aid providers to deliver access to justice and legal aid services to the poor. However, there is a lack of legal aid lawyers and organizations throughout the country, and lawyers do not necessarily have the sufficient skills for delivering legal aid services with a human rights, gender equality and social justice perspective. Many organizations also deal with a limited administrative capacity and struggle to meet the requirements in conducting legal aid reimbursement.

IDLO entrega política municipal de niñez y adolescencia del municipio de San Pedro Sula

San Pedro Sula, 18 de abril de 2018 – La Organización Internacional de Derecho para el Desarrollo, IDLO por sus siglas en inglés, presentó a la Municipalidad de San Pedro Sula la nueva Política de Niñez y Adolescencia del Municipio, en respuesta a la necesidad de garantizar la protección integral de la niñez y adolescencia en el municipio. Dicha Política Municipal de Niñez será un instrumento local para asegurar los recursos que permitan mejorar y elevar las condiciones y calidad de vida de los niños, niñas y adolescentes.

Strengthening local capacities for improved access to justice for women in Myanmar

Recent research shows that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is one of the leading problems impacting communities across Myanmar. Women in particular face significant and widespread levels of SGBV, with both formal and informal systems failing to provide satisfactory remedies. Inadequate legal protections, combined with pervasive cultural and social stigma, low public legal awareness, and deep mistrust in the formal justice system, pose a daunting range of barriers to accessing justice and other services such as legal, medical and psycho-social support.

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Key Initiatives

  • Following the Tunisian revolution of  2011, the new Constitution adopted in 2014 aimed to embed the principle of equality between women and men as well as ensuring the State’s obligation to protect women’s rights. However, despite the reforms to the legal framework in Tunisia to increase protection for women against gender-based violence, justice sector professionals, particularly judges and bailiffs, have limited knowledge, skills and capacity to act as effective gender justice agents, as stipulated by the new Law.
  • Sound legal and policy frameworks are key enablers in ensuring effective prevention, detection, and response to Public Health Emergencies of International Concern and other public health risks. The International Health Regulations, developed in 2005, is a legally binding instrument requiring States to develop core capacities for rapid detection of and response to public health emergencies such as COVID-19.
  • IDLO is rolling out a program that aims to secure accessible, quality and sustainable justice services for citizens - particularly those living in rural, poor and other disadvantaged communities. The Community Justice Programme (CJP) supports both state and non-state legal aid, legal empowerment and other justice delivery interventions.
  • In partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IDLO successfully concluded a project in 2023 to promote commercial mediation in Jordan. Through awareness-raising, legal framework evaluation and the creation of a National Action Plan, the project advocated for the establishment of mediation as an effective dispute resolution method.
  • Since the revolution in 2011, Tunisia has experienced a period of significant political transition and change culminating in the adoption of a new constitution in 2014, which called for justice reform and protection of women’s rights. However, the practical application of the framework for legal assistance in Tunisia demonstrates the insufficiency of existing relevant mechanisms. Therefore, there is the strong need to empower women to access justice and claim their rights.
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