Since beginning operations in Afghanistan in 2003, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) has implemented numerous technical assistance programmes, benefiting thousands of legal professionals, including judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, civil servants, and academics. These professionals have received training and access to legal tools and resources. IDLO has also enabled the provision of essential legal services to vulnerable people and communities, with a particular focus on women and girls.
In 2021, IDLO adapted its approach to enhance the capacity of non-state justice actors, such as civil society organizations, networks, and individual service providers.
Reducing violence against Afghan women and girls has been one of our priority areas of intervention. Although the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (LEVAW) has been stuck in the Afghan parliament for years, the Attorney General’s Office in 2009 used the law's framework to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with IDLO. The aim was to support the creation of a specialized unit that would prosecute cases of gender violence.
The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) today launched its newest and most ambitious project to date in Afghanistan: the Justice Training Transition Program (JTTP) made possible through the support of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. State Department.
“I am here to say to you that we need IDLO, and if it did not exist today, we would have to invent it – because it does something that must be done, and [that] so far, no one else in the world is doing.” The statement, by Assistant US Secretary of State for Narcotics and Law Enforcement William Brownfield, came as he opened a congressional briefing on Thursday, April 11th.
In December 2006, IDLO assisted graduates from its Defense Lawyers Training in launching a nationwide Afghan movement to promote access to justice and legal awareness, and provide legal aid services to the poor. Ever since, IDLO has supported and improved legal aid in Afghanistan through training, technical assistance, monitoring, evaluation and financial support.
The weight of custom and the failings of the formal justice system mean most Afghans only access justice via informal dispute resolution mechanisms. With this in mind, IDLO has been assisting informal justice actors to perform their duties within basic legal standards and a human-rights positive framework.
The letter that was sent by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) to U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, with relation to the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), contains a number of factual errors and speculative assertions based on incorrect or incomplete information.
