Rights mean little if those entitled to them are not aware they exist. Due process is of doubtful value when you are illiterate, or unable to understand the proceedings. Courts are next to worthless for those who cannot afford the bus fare to reach them. Nor should justice be about courts alone. For all these reasons, legal empowerment is crucial. Part of IDLO's bottom-up (or demand side) approach, it involves equipping people with the knowledge, confidence and skills to realize their rights. Even as we work to improve the functioning of justice systems, we strengthen citizens' capacity to press for justice from below.
The rule of law only exists to the extent that it works for all.
Algunos de los jóvenes que colaboran con los Centros de Acceso a la Justicia instalados por el Ministerio de Justicia argentino en las villas y barrios populares de Buenos Aires capital, recorrieron la semana pasada las calles de la Villa 31 informando a los vecinos sobre un festival que se realizará en el barrio el día sábado 4 de octubre de 2014.
Earlier this year, climate justice advocate and former UN official Mary Robinson told IDLO that climate change exacerbated vulnerability and made access to justice even harder.
The truth of her words stares you in the face as you drive through the streets of Asunción.
SAN JOSE, 25 de octubre del 2012 – El programa EUROsociAL II, y la Organización Internacional del Derecho para el Desarrollo, IDLO en calidad de socio operativo, organizaron un Taller Regional de Necesidades y Prioridades para la Divulgación de Derechos de Población en Condición de Vulnerabilidad en San José, Costa Rica.
Orientación y servicios legales para el acceso al derecho
When you think of a border, you think guards, passport controls, fences, bits of barbed wire maybe. In the northern Costa Rican department of Upala, bordering with Nicaragua, you will find none of that.
Buenos Aires – April 10, 2013— For youth growing up in deprived neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, education is not always a top priority. Making a living, caring for family and a myriad of other factors often take precedence.
IDLO is working with the disadvantaged in Paraguay under the European Union’s EUROsociAL program, supporting the provision of free legal advice to residents in one of Asunción's poorest neighborhoods. This is the first step towards strengthening access to rights and justice for deprived communities in the country in line with the Brasilia Regulations on Access to Justice. The project being is being implemented in collaboration with the Paraguayan Ministry of Justice.
IDLO is working in Costa Rica with the European Union’s EUROsociAL program to empower migrant women and refugees who are victims of violence. The project, supported by Costa Rica’s judiciary and France Expertise Internationale (FEI), provides orientation and legal assistance to vulnerable migrant women, in line with the Brasilia Regulations on Access to Justice.
IDLO has been working to empower some of Brazil’s most disadvantaged, within the framework of the European Union’s EUROsociAL program. The Brasilia Regulations Regarding Access to Justice for Vulnerable People, adopted in 2008, serve as a basis for our intervention. In collaboration with Brazil’s Ministry of Justice, we are leading the Access to Law element of the program, which is co-ordinated by France Expertise Internationale (FEI).
IDLO has been working with victims of gender violence and disadvantaged young people through the EU’s EUROsociAL program. Backed by Argentina’s Ministry of Justice, the initiative is aimed at raising awareness about women’s rights and increasing legal assistance. Youth access to education is also being promoted through the project, which is being co-ordinated by France Expertise Internationale (FEI).