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.

Somalia

In Somalia, UNDP strengthened the capacity of the security sector to deliver its mandated services through the rights-focused training courses for partner security institutions, in line with their development plans. A series of functional assessments conducted by the Somalia Office of the Prime Minister scored the administrative capacities of key security institutions and identified a 47 percent increase since the previous assessments in 2019.

UNDP worked with the formal justice sector to enable justice institutions to manage cases effectively and efficiently. To achieve this, UNDP supported the design of an integrated electronic case management system. In 2021, the preparatory work was completed through a comprehensive needs assessment and a study tour for a Somali judiciary delegation to Rwanda to see an efficient case management system in action.

UNDP continued its support to the Alternative Dispute Resolution centres, legal aid providers and mobile courts in Somalia and Somaliland. In 2021, 14,618 individuals (8,141 women and 6,477 men) received access to justice through these services.

Tailoring its programming to the local context and enhancing a community-driven approach to justice, UNDP, together with the UN Joint Justice Programme, facilitated community-led discussions, an initiative to find local solutions to shared and individual challenges. Communities identified concerns, which included sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), high rates of crime, land disputes and the lack of effective and trustworthy local justice and police services. In 2021, 6,375 community members (including 3,373 women) took part in the community conversations in Garowe, Baidoa, Jowhar, Kismayo Dhusamareb. Conversations involved local authorities, including religious leaders.

As part of the COVID-19 response, UNDP supported the Attorney General’s Office of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) to establish a supervision committee and inspection teams, which undertook ten monitoring visits to Banadir central prison, eight police stations, and the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). During the visits, 27 percent of detainees in these facilities reported health and hygiene concerns and lack of access to legal aid. Individuals incarcerated in the CID detention centre complained it was overcrowded, with cells occupied at over double capacity. Recommendations to address these issues were given to the police and custodial services and an action plan was agreed to align the conditions of imprisonment and detention with basic human rights standards and to undertake measures to prevent illegal detention.

The risk of COVID-19 transmission in courts was reduced due to the introduction of protocols on social distancing and hygiene measures. UNDP facilitated cooperation between the Attorney General’s Office, the Somali Bar Association and the Banadir courts to establish a framework and produce guidelines for remote hearings. UNDP helped the Criminal Investigation Department set up virtual conferencing systems to enable detainees to join their court sessions remotely.

Mother of seven, a woman
A woman, mother of seven, shared her story during a community conversation in Somalia and restored her land rights.Photo: UNDP

Key Results: Somalia

Ten monitoring visits were conducted by inspection teams of the Attorney General’s Office to improve conditions in prisons and detention centres, and to ensure that people deprived of liberty can exercise their rights.

14, 618 individuals (8,141 women and 6,477 men) received access to justice through UNDP-supported services, such as Alternative Dispute Resolution centres, legal aid providers, and mobile courts in Somalia and Somaliland.

6,375 community members (including 3,373 women) participated in the community conversations initiative. It is an inclusive space to find solutions for shared and individuals concerns and to heal traumas.