CHILDREN AND JUSTICE

GLOBALLY VOLUNTARY COOPERATION PROGRAMME : PROTECTING CHILDREN, WOMEN AND OTHER VULNERABLE GROUPS

BRIEF PROJECT HISTORY: The Voluntary Cooperation Programme (VCP), funded by the Government of Canada, was put in place several decades ago. It enables Canadian professionals to volunteer in a developing country by offering their services to a local organisation. In 2014, Global Affairs Canada published a request for proposals to renew the VCP, making the programme available to new Canadian organisations. It is within this context that the joint venture between Lawyers without Borders (LWB) Canada and the IBCR presented their five-year project, which was approved in May 2015 by the Canadian government.

GOALS:

Improve the protection of children’s rights, as well as those of women and impoverished and marginalised groups, and reinforce democracy and the rule of law through access to justice To accomplish this, the joint venture sends volunteers to its partners in the field . Nearly 20 partners in nine countries will welcome over 100 volunteers during the project’s five-year run

PARTNERS: Amal pour la famille et l’enfant (Amal Centre for Families and Children) (Tunisia), Association des femmes juristes de Côte d’Ivoire (Association of Women Lawyers of Cote d’Ivoire) (Cote d’Ivoire), Bayti (Morocco), CHS Alternativo (Peru), Paniamor (Costa Rica), Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH, or Association of Human Rights) (Peru), LWB Colombia (Colombia), LWB Guatemala (Guatemala), Bufete de derechos humanos (Human Rights Legal Services) (Guatemala), Centro para la acción legal en derechos humanos (Centre for Legal Action for Human Rights) (Guatemala), Centre de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (uHCIPRODEH, or Centre for the Investigation and Promotion of Human Rights) (Honduras), Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH, or Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras) (Honduras), Collectif contre l’impunité (Collective against Impunity) (Haiti), Humanas Corporation (Colombia), Instituto Promoviendo Desarrollo Social (IPRODES, or Institute for the Promotion of Social Development) (Peru), Kay Famn (Haiti) and Office de la protection du citoyen (Citizens Protection Office) (Haiti)

ACHIEVEMENTS: During the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the IBCR and its partner, Lawyers Without Borders Canada, carried out the following activities:

Launching of the LWB/IBCR Voluntary Cooperation Programme during the jointly organised “Conference on Sexual Abuse: Helping Victims”

Over 100 mission volunteers in five years 9 countries

Approximately 20 partner organisations

Hosting of the President of the Association of Women Lawyers of Cote d’Ivoire during her 10-day mission and meetings with representatives from the justice and international development sectors in Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa

14 legal advisors and two organisational management advisors sent to help our partners in nine countries Follow-up missions to Washington, Honduras and Peru to consolidate partnerships and follow-up on the project

Our Committed Partners

“As a volunteer for Capital Humano y Social Alternativo (Alternative Human and Social Resources), I help provide legal assistance to victims of human trafficking and to training programmes for judges, prosecutors and public defence lawyers, as well as for advocates of the Department for Women and Vulnerable Groups . I also help the organisation by taking part in research and in drafting of reports on human trafficking, sexual exploitation and child labour from an international and human rights perspective Being able to contribute time and knowledge to something that has a direct impact on the lives of society’s most vulnerable is an invaluable experience that transcends our own professional development ”