Impact by Regions, Countries & Territories

UNDP’s Global Programme supports crisis-affected contexts across all regions to strengthen the rule of law and human rights. In this section, we present five regional overviews, detailing our priorities and approach depending on the context, as well as feature select country and territory results from 2021.

Five contexts from the list (Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Mali and Yemen) illustrate the achievements of the Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law (GFP). In peacekeeping missions and transition settings, UNDP’s Global Programme works through the GFP to deliver integrated assistance with our UN partners.

GFP Global Focal Point Highlights

Africa

Arab States

Latin America & The Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Europe & Central Asia

Political
Engagement

The rule of law is essential for sustainable peace and resilient economies, as well as for the prevention or recurrence of conflict. To prevent or address injustice, inequalities or democratic deficits, UNDP works with multiple stakeholders to operate in a way that is consistent with the rule of law and creates opportunities for all individuals to exercise their rights and access justice.

Institution
Building

The importance of strong institutions is more evident than ever as countries and communities respond to disruption, whether because of public health restrictions, climate change or political upheaval. Limitations on public gatherings and travel have revealed the need for institutions that are resilient to disruption.

Community
Security

2021 was a pivotal year that saw various developments affecting peace and security around the world. Civic space continued to shrink and the social contract between states and citizens was increasingly challenged, particularly during and after the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Facing distressing consequences of climate change, states and communities are forced to manage more cross-border conflicts, triggered by the displacement of people seeking increasingly scarce resources.

Human Rights
Systems

The scope of human rights challenges is widening, from eroded public trust and shrinking civic space to ongoing inequality and human rights impacts in the socio-economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and emerging risks in the digital sphere. National human rights institutions (NHRIs), along with other human rights defenders, are facing rising and sophisticated forms of reprisals for carrying out their work.

Access to
Justice

Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) of the 2030 Agenda highlights the importance of access to justice for all for the development of peaceful and inclusive societies. Meaningful access to justice can only be achieved when people know their rights, have the opportunities, agency and capacities to claim them, and have access to independent, inclusive and people-centred justice systems that will respond in a timely, fair and effective manner.

Transitional
Justice

Without justice, there can be no lasting peace. In post-conflict, crisis-affected and fragile contexts, truth-seeking initiatives and reconciliation efforts are essential to bring peace to affected communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down transitional processes as states prioritized their response to the health crisis and measures to support the economy.

Gender
Justice

In 2021, the continued erosion of democracy and the spread of authoritarian trends in politics in many parts of the world contributed to a backlash against women’s rights. The COVID-19 crisis has reversed some of the hard-won gender parity gains by exacerbating pre-existing inequalities and power imbalances. It has also caused a dramatic increase in sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). All these challenges have been particularly acute in conflict, fragile and crisis-affected settings.

Innovation

New ideas and new strategies are critical to building sustainable and effective development approaches that really meet people’s needs. Technologies and globalization raise new human rights concerns and threaten the rule of law. Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to limit people’s access to basic services. UNDP connected expertise across the globe to learn and adapt. Creating a culture of curiosity and experimentation, these efforts ensured that local needs and expertise were combined with emerging models to bring strategic thinking to people-centred development goals.

Guinea-Bissau

In Guinea-Bissau, UNDP expanded the work of the Access to Justice Centres (CAJ) and developed the capacity of their staff members to apply alternative dispute resolution methods. The Access to Justice Centres provide legal aid and promote conflict resolution through mediation and counselling. As of 2021, there are seven Access to Justice Centres: two in Bissau (Bairro Militar and Bissau Velho), and five in the regions. In 2021, 4,073 people (52 percent men and 48 percent women) benefitted from their services. To promote the work of the CAJs and draw people to use their legal aid services, UNDP designed and held awareness raising campaigns on human rights, access to justice and dispute resolution.

To enhance the human rights protection mechanisms in Guinea-Bissau, UNDP supported the Human Rights Commission in its development as a fully-fledged National Human Rights Institution (NHRI). In October 2021, UNDP organized a workshop enabling the Commission to process the proposals to amend relevant pieces of legislation and ensure that the new law regulating the work of the Human Rights Commission is aligned with the Paris Principles. Due to UNDP’s expert and technical assistance, the members of the Commission and civil society actors became better equipped to address legislative and procedural gaps and achieve progress towards the Commission’s accreditation. Additionally, UNDP worked with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to give more visibility to human rights issues and advocate for allocating resources for human rights protection and promotion in the country. In 2021, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Guinea-Bissau started the development of its first National Human Rights Action Plan to enhance national coordination and efforts to better protect human rights.

To improve the quality of justice services in Guinea-Bissau and make them more accessible, UNDP worked with the Ministry of Justice to expand and capacitate its personnel. The judicial system in the country is understaffed, with only 70 judges and about a 100 prosecutors throughout the country while the estimated needs are 150 judges and 190 prosecutors. In 2021, UNDP supported 39 new magistrates and 157 notary officers to get the necessary training. UNDP also assisted the Ministry with the recruitment process of these staff members.

Access to justice in Guinea-Bissau is further impeded by poor infrastructure. With low quality roads, lack of public transport and high fees, people in remote areas experience difficulties to reaching state institutions, including courts. In 2021, UNDP equipped the sectorial and regional courts of the country with motorcycles so that judicial officials could visit remote communities and provide the required services.

Training on GBV
Training on preventing and addressing gender-based violence (GBV) for professionals dealing directly with GBV survivors. Trainings were organized by Fundação Ana Pereira with UNDP support.Photo: Fundação Ana Pereira/UNDP

Key Results: Guinea-Bissau

39 new judges (28 men and 11 women) and 157 new clerks (98 men and 59 women) received the initial training and were recruited by the Ministry of Justice allowing for reopening of seven courts that did not function due to the lack of staff. 89 lawyers (68 men, 21 women) were trained and registered with the Bar Association.

To ensure access to justice in remote areas, 30 motorcycles were provided for the Ministry of Justice to be used by justice officials of the regional and sectorial courts.

Eight networks to prevent and address gender-based violence (GBV) were developed with civil society to assist women victims of violence.