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.

Tunisia

In Tunisia, to raise awareness and protect the rights of individuals facing gender discrimination and/or discrimination based on their sexual orientation, UNDP supported the development of a national study “The State of Play of Gender Inequality and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation in Tunisian Law”. The study provides analysis of said inequalities through a legal, jurisdictional and practical lens and is the first of its kind in Tunisia. Presented in June 2021, the study provided recommendations to the Parliament, the Government, different jurisdictions, and human rights bodies on their role in the achievement of full and effective equality. In complement to the study, UNDP ensured the first Arabic translation of the Pathfinders’ reports “Access to Justice for All” and “Access to Justice for Women”, as well as the development of a Gender Glossary available in French, English and Arabic.

Within its gender justice portfolio in Tunisia, UNDP launched an innovation challenge to support civil society-led initiatives addressing gender inequalities and discrimination based on sexual orientation. With a view to ensuring no one is left behind and to complementing the recommendations made to formal actors in the study mentioned above, the innovation challenge is aimed to empower individuals experiencing discrimination to act. Four civil society initiatives were supported. First, to promote female leadership in Korba municipality, female municipal employees reinforced their community engagement as duty bearers role models. They also established an anti-discrimination unit within the municipal Commission on Women, Family and Childhood. Three other initiatives focused on the following: (i) awareness-raising on the discrimination of LGBTQI+ persons in Tunisia and the creation of a safe space for cultural and artistic expression around gender and sex/gender-identity; (ii) awareness-raising on the Tunisian legislation to prevent and counter gender-based violence (GBV) and existing protection mechanisms; and (iii) facilitating reporting of GBV and discrimination through the creation of an online platform for female students at the University of Gabès to report sexual harassment and violence. In 2021, 15 female students were trained on the use of the platform and 40 female students were sensitized on gender-based violence. Ten reports were submitted through the platform since its launch in September 2021, and ten women were referred to the Regional Commission on Women for assistance.

Under its Business and Human Rights scope of work in Tunisia, UNDP facilitated a participatory dialogue between national institutions and private actors, trade unions, associations and academia on the respect of human rights in the fisheries value chain in the governorate of Médenine. Supported by comprehensive analysis and a perception survey, this dialogue made it possible to identify challenges to the respect of human rights in the value chain, and to suggest policy-level improvements, as well as concrete actions to be taken to improve working conditions. These efforts have ensured the trust and commitment of partners throughout the value chain up to the ministerial level and along with the data collected, these partnerships will facilitate the launch and implementation of UNDP’s first project on Business and Human Rights in Tunisia.

Local fish cannery meeting with workers
Meeting with workers from a local fish cannery in Djerba, Tunisia, as part of a survey on business and human rights in the fisheries value chain. Photo: UNDP

Key Results: Tunisia

15 female students were trained on the use of an online platform at the University of Gabès to report sexual harassment and violence. 40 female students were sensitized on gender-based violence. Ten reports were submitted through the platform and 10 women were referred to the Regional Commission on Women for assistance.

Three exhibitions were organized to display the artworks produced to raise awareness on sexual orientation and gender identity. Over 170 people attended the exhibitions. The artwork was viewed over 10,000 times on Instagram.

23 women clam collectors, 40 fishers, 20 representatives of civil society organizations and 130 students at the universities of Djerba and El F'ja in Médenine were sensitized on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.