Education

Healthcare may not be thought of as a rule of law issue, but when the right to free healthcare is violated by corruption, counterfeit medicines, or discrimination, innocent people suffer. A seed grant from the World Justice Challenge in 2013 allowed the Cameroon Healthcare Access Program to tackle corruption in the healthcare system, where patients do not receive the free medicines they need and are asked to pay bribes for free services.

Each year, thousands of children living on the streets of Bogotá, Colombia, are arrested and end up in juvenile detention centers. In 2013, with a seed grant from the World Justice Project, the Dutch-based Young in Prison partnered with Colombian-based Familia Araya to help incarcerated youth change their relationship with the rule of law.

Director and Producer Lorie Conway gives us an update on the path ahead for Beatrice, Zimbabwe, and for the documentary film Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law.  The film was screened at the World Justice Forum IV in the Hague in July, as well as co-screened with WJP in Seattle and Washington, DC. “This woman has guts, she never stops fighting, no fear. I`ll hand it to you, Beatrice. You get a salute from me…”

Legislators react. They don’t enact. A politician who declares a revolution is actually just announcing the phenomenon which he seeks to legislate can no longer be ignored. The real changes are made by people, by society, by individual choices and actions, not by political statements or election propaganda. The legislator simply updates the law to reflect the changes that the people have already made a reality through individual acts of autonomy and self-expression.

Team Leader of The GUERREIRASPROJECT (GP), Ms. Caitlin D. Fisher was a speaker on the “Sport and the Rule of Law” panel during World Justice Forum IV. Focusing on gender education and rights training through the lens of futebol, The GUERREIRASPROJECT’s primary demographic is young women (15-35) and their communities.

India may be the world’s largest democracy, but it is still governed by a vast and powerful bureaucracy. For much of India’s history, that bureaucracy has been largely opaque and unaccountable, legitimized by leftover vestiges of colonial rule, such as the Official Secrets Act (OSA) of 1923.

Rape and sexual abuse is a threat that hangs over women wherever they live in the world. But in some countries that threat is more terrible because that violence is much more likely to occur. It takes a lot of work and much courage to try to change the culture that breeds it, to educate people to understand that sexual violence in all its forms is abhorrent, and that these atrocities must be prevented at all costs. The High Court of Kenya has recently taken such an admirable step. 

When deciding how to produce a film about Zimbabwe several themes ran through my head. Some themes appeared to be narratives with a compelling storyline. But conferring with two colleagues who helped developed the film, I soon began a process of elimination on what could work. I was intrigued when the rule of law was suggested as the prism in which to tell the story of the country. But also initially confused.

As we reflect on labor rights and workers during the month of May, pause and consider what the working world looks like to someone who cannot see, or hear, or move easily from place to place. Justice Rising contributor Stephanie Ortoleva was recently at the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity in Hawaii, where she delivered this excellent keynote on the obstacles facing women with disabilities in both education and employment as they enter the STEM fields.

Malawi is a multiparty democracy with a population of approximately 15 million. In April, 2012 Joyce Banda took over through a smooth transition as President in what local and international observers characterized as a sign that Malawi respects the Rule of Law. Her Government inherited serious challenges ranging from economic hardships, bad governance and donor fatigue.