opens up opportunities for women

Online professional development for Afghan justice professionals opens up opportunities for women

8-10%

Women represent 8–10% of the judiciary in Afghanistan.8

87%

In 2020, 87% of Afghan people agreed that women can work outside the home, including in mixed-gender government offices9 compared to 64% in 201010 .

While the Afghan justice sector has progressed over the last decade, continuing professional development and institutional ownership is key to strengthening performance over the long term, especially given the continuously evolving nature of the law.

When the revised Penal Code entered into force in February 2018, there was an urgent need to build the capacity of justice professionals to handle cases in compliance with the amended Code.

To keep up with the changes, the Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice turned to their emerging professional training departments to address their staff’s professional development needs and update their knowledge and skills.

Building on its experience running one of the largest and most comprehensive criminal justice training programs in the country, IDLO continued to support capacity building for Afghan criminal justice professionals. While early initiatives focused on direct training, IDLO’s work ultimately seeks to reinforce the sustainability of continuing professional development in the country by transitioning the training responsibility to the justice institutions themselves.

As the demand for training on the new Penal Code continued to be high, IDLO launched a new continuing professional development initiative in 2020. This new program was designed to enable professional training departments of Afghanistan’s justice institutions to independently conduct training needs assessments, develop effective curricula and deliver quality Training of Trainers. When the COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions came into force in March 2020, in-person courses were moved to digital platforms and there was an opportunity to innovate further. IDLO shifted its focus to coaching trainers on how to deliver virtual courses and converting training materials into a format that could be used for interactive online activities.

Positive results emerged from adjustments made during the pandemic. First, IDLO was able to increase the participation of women, who are underrepresented in the sector. A lack of security and transportation facilities make it difficult for women to travel from rural areas to the provincial capital, but online participation makes the courses more accessible. Secondly, the inhouse trainers acquired new skills in online coaching that could potentially open training to many more Afghan justice professionals in the future.

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“[IDLO courses] addressed issues both concerning the pandemic, and also security, since our justice sector trainers did not have to travel to remote provinces and participants could participate via their cellphones from their homes.”

Justice Sector Institutional Training Manager