ROME, 20 November 2012 – The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan became the 28th Member Party to the International Development Law Organization (IDLO).
Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Italy Zia Uddin Nezam said: “The formal accession to IDLO is the natural consequence of the strong relationship between Afghanistan and IDLO, as for many years IDLO is playing an important role in the development of the rule of law in Afghanistan.”
IDLO has been working at the intersection of law and development in Afghanistan since 2001 as a lead partner of the Afghan government in justice and legal reform. Specific achievements include:
- The establishment of eight specialized units dedicated to prosecute violence against women crimes in line with the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General.
- Support to a group of graduates of an IDLO training course for future public defenders to establish the Legal Aid Organization of Afghanistan (LAOA), one of the leading NGOs promoting access to justice, legal awareness and the rule of law in Afghanistan and which provides quality legal aid services to poor and disadvantaged groups, especially women and children, in the areas of criminal defense, family law and some areas of civil law.
- Capacity building of over 3,000 legal professionals, including judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, members of parliament, civil servants and academics.
- The development of training materials and legal resources, including a Human Rights and International Law Terms Glossary and a Judicial Bench Book. IDLO also supported the drafting and approval of five key legal textbooks for law faculties of Afghan universities and developed a Law Library for the Faculty of Shari’a at the University of Kabul.
Irene Khan, IDLO Director-General, stated the organization’s commitment to continuing its work in Afghanistan and to supporting the government in strengthening the rule of law and justice in the country.