Since beginning operations in Afghanistan in 2003, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) has implemented numerous technical assistance programmes, benefiting thousands of legal professionals, including judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, civil servants, and academics. These professionals have received training and access to legal tools and resources. IDLO has also enabled the provision of essential legal services to vulnerable people and communities, with a particular focus on women and girls.
In 2021, IDLO adapted its approach to enhance the capacity of non-state justice actors, such as civil society organizations, networks, and individual service providers.
“I am here to say to you that we need IDLO, and if it did not exist today, we would have to invent it – because it does something that must be done, and [that] so far, no one else in the world is doing.” The statement, by Assistant US Secretary of State for Narcotics and Law Enforcement William Brownfield, came as he opened a congressional briefing on Thursday, April 11th.
In December 2006, IDLO assisted graduates from its Defense Lawyers Training in launching a nationwide Afghan movement to promote access to justice and legal awareness, and provide legal aid services to the poor. Ever since, IDLO has supported and improved legal aid in Afghanistan through training, technical assistance, monitoring, evaluation and financial support.
The weight of custom and the failings of the formal justice system mean most Afghans only access justice via informal dispute resolution mechanisms. With this in mind, IDLO has been assisting informal justice actors to perform their duties within basic legal standards and a human-rights positive framework.
The letter that was sent by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) to U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, with relation to the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), contains a number of factual errors and speculative assertions based on incorrect or incomplete information.
IDLO has over 30 years of experience in providing legal training for more than 25,000 people in the developing world, and has been working in Afghanistan since 2002. As an inter-governmental organisation, Afghanistan is also a member state of IDLO and this relationship further strengthens our engagement and effectiveness with local authorities and partners.
The US State Department has strongly defended IDLO’s record in Afghanistan. The comments came in response to allegations by the monitoring agency, SIGAR, that more than $47 million in funds allocated to IDLO for judicial training in Afghanistan lacked proper oversight.
