Author: EWMI Staff

Breaking Tradition and Raising Legal Awareness

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“I am the only girl in my family. Since childhood, I have been surrounded by lawyers. Therefore, when it came time to choose a profession, I didn’t have much doubt. My parents supported me and wanted me to build a good career in my profession. I knew from the first grade that I would work in an office, with papers, with people.”  – Elina Tynybekova

Elina Tynybekova is a student of the Issyk-Kul Law Institute, and one of four students selected from Karakol to participate in the Ukuktuk Region Project. Supported by EWMI’s USAID Ukuk Bulagy Project and implemented by the Association of Law Clinics of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Ukuktuk Region Project aims to raise legal awareness among residents of the regions. Elina and her four colleagues traveled from Karakol to the Ton district for an internship within the framework of the project, and provided services to justice seekers with the support of local stakeholders.

The local government in Ton provided significant support for the project, including outreach work to ensure residents were aware of the opportunity to engage with these law interns. Before their arrival, the local government opened a messenger group to inform residents about the arrival of project participants and their work schedule. Participants were based in the government’s aiyl okmotu, in an office specially allocated for legal advice. After arriving, project participants learned that there is one lawyer providing services in the Ton district. A queue of locals quickly lined up for the students.

During two months of work in Bokonbayevo, the students managed to help in 14 appeals from local residents and employees of the aiyl okmotu. The main issues were related to the resolution of land disputes, divorce proceedings, easement, and the division of property. “Basically, all the problems that were addressed to us concerned land plots: documents were not issued on time, [parties] misunderstood each other, or someone dies but they did not inherit, queues for land,” notes Elina. Project participants also noted high unmet needs related to employment contracts. “Our population practically does not read them, signs them, then it turns out that they were fired, but they cannot make claims.” Elina entered the internship well-prepared to provide these services, after training through her university’s law clinic on how to provide legal advice to the population, work with clients, conduct interviews, and be psychologically prepared for situations.

Even though Elina’s internship has ended and the students have returned to Karakol, the community they served continues to reach out for support with their legal challenges. “Although the work here is over, some clients continue to keep in touch with us, by phone, and sometimes even come to Karakol.” Elina even noted an uptick in interest in students’ services from outside of their original constituency. “After our internship, we received more calls. The grapevine worked. People from Karakol call us for advice after learning about our successes in Bokonbayevo,” Elina shares with inspiration.

Elina continues to be in touch with those who turned to her for help. Now, the highest priority case for her is to help an 81–year-old woman and resident of Bokonbayevo. She worked for many years as a shepherd at the collective farm, for which she was allocated a shed. But the allocation resolution did not specify the area, and only specified “a shed and a temporary shelter.” After selling her house and shed without sufficient documentation, the woman is now facing a land dispute.

As with many legal problems the students encountered, justice in this case has been impeded by a lack of comprehensive documentation, limitations in the resident’s legal knowledge, and long timelines to resolve disputes. Elina assisted the woman in filing an appeal on her decision, which resulted in the creation of a commission that included aiyl okmotu, the cadastre and the cooperative itself. Despite quarrels between the parties and hurdles in communications, Elina remains committed to finding a resolution for her client. “[Her daughter] calls me every day saying ‘Elina, let’s finish this case somehow.’ Grandma is tired and she asks us to finish it as soon as possible, since this case dragged on for 9 years before us.”

Elina explains her perseverance in work and study by saying that she always knew what she would do from childhood. Her decision to become a lawyer was unconditionally supported by her parents, which is not always the case for young women in the Kyrgyz Republic. Elina speaks openly about the difficulties of the law profession for women in Kyrgyzstan:

“It is more difficult for girls to be a lawyer. My parents never pressured me, didn’t talk about marriage, etc. Although I look at my peers and understand that my parents are the exception rather than the norm. Many take diplomas and don’t work, girls often study to get married. They answer: “And what will I say to my husband and children?”

Now Elina plans to enroll in a master’s degree, and in a few years earn her lawyer’s license. She dreams of living in a country where the law will be the main guarantor of the freedoms and rights of every resident, remarking “This must be put in order. Lawyers are in demand, but we have very few professionals. Requests from the public don’t end, as well as law issues. I think that law is my vocation.”

Building Global Leaders

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During the national COVID lockdown, Kuraish relied on his car to deliver HIV medication and food to young people living with HIV

“I know stigma like I know the back of my hand.”

“From a young age, I watched everyone walk away from me when I tested positive for HIV. From my friends at school to my very own father, who sent me away to the village to my maternal grandmother. Apparently, so I could die next to my mother – and that is how I found out that my mother had died of HIV.”

“According to my father, it was only a matter of time before I joined my mother. In his words, why waste money paying school fees for a corpse?”

“Sadly, he was right. I indeed felt like a moving corpse. That year, I became suicidal. My mental health deteriorated so much that it took my grandmother all the strength she had to tie me up so I wouldn’t harm myself,” narrates Kuraish.

But what really counts, they say, are good endings, not flawed beginnings. Like a phoenix, Kuraish rose from the ashes of a dejected childhood to become a global representative, a leader in the civil society, and an inspiration to other young people – and he says he greatly credits EWMI’s USAID/Uganda Civil Society Strengthening Activity (CSSA) for making him the leader that he is today.

“USAID/CSSA helped me build the capacity to assist young people who face challenges similar to those I faced growing up, and to influence processes and decisions that affect them, which has also notably impacted Uganda Youth Positives (UYP), the organization that I now lead as Executive Director (ED),” he says.

Kuraish, who took over as UYP’s ED in December 2019, says that, after his traumatizing childhood experience, he developed the desire and determination to prove that HIV wouldn’t limit him from becoming an exemplary leader for his generation.

“Just a couple of months into my tenure as UYP’s ED, the country went into national lockdown due to theCovid-19 pandemic,” he recalls, “This greatly affected service delivery and access to medication for young people living with HIV. So, I voluntarily used my car to support the Ministry of Health to deliver HIV medication and food door-to-door to young people living with HIV in Kampala.”

“My car, that I call ‘my hero’, and I went all over Kampala, bringing medical services closer to young people living with HIV, and in no time, my car and I were getting recognition from the media and other civil society organizations – and that is when I was invited to join the USAID/CSSA GUIDE program,” he says.

Kuraish is one of 20 pioneer GUIDE program participants (2022 cohort). GUIDE (Giving Rise to Ugandan Indigenous Direction and Experience) is USAID/CSSA’s cutting-edge servant leadership program designed to challenge the present situation in which Ugandan CSOs operate, by creating opportunities for powerful,thoughtful, and strategic collaboration among young leaders representing diverse communities.

“The GUIDE program fueled and repurposed my dream of lighting the candle for young people, especially those living with HIV,” he says.

“I can’t credit USAID/CSSA enough for unlocking my leadership potential in ways I hadn’t envisioned. I obtained substantial servant leadership skills that inspired and propelled me on a journey to be the change I desire to see out there.”

Kuraish says that by attending the virtual and in-person training and mentoring sessions, he picked up strategies for attaining influence in decision-making platforms and processes to benefit the people and entities he represents.

“That was such a game changer for me. I started to consciously position myself in places where decisions that affect my community are made – and almost immediately, I started to register a lot of tangible achievements”.

“As a result, I was selected to represent the civil society at the PEPFAR Regional Planning Meeting that was held in Johannesburg in March 2023. While at the event, I was selected to present the statement of the young delegates to Mr. John N. Nkengasong, the Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally,” he says.

“We were also able to get the PEPFAR Ambassador to agree to establish a PEPFAR Youth Council,” he adds delightfully. “And when I demonstrated to the PEPFAR stakeholder’s platform the work that I have done under Engaging Young Boys and Men in the Fight against HIV initiative, supported by the GUIDE program, PEPFAR invited us to bid for a 3 million USD grant,” he says.

Kuraish, who says he now prides himself of serving young people beyond Uganda’s borders, adds that he was also invited to sit on the Global Fund Community Accountability Steering Committee for Research.

“This is a platform that brings together people from all over the world to highlight Global Fund’s accountability to key and affected populations, and now I get to effectively represent young people, thanks to USAID/CSSA”.

“And that’s not all”, he adds, “The GUIDE program also strengthened my proposal writing skills, as we learned how to develop competitive proposals that directly respond to community challenges. This has translated into actual grants for my organization, on top of the capacity strengthening grant from USAID/CSSA”.

“For example, shortly after I completed the GUIDE program, we (UYP) were invited to Dar-es-Salam by the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights, where I used the skills I learned from GUIDE to pitch for a project, and we were awarded a grant of 16,000 USD,” he says. “And I am sure there are still more similar fundraising opportunities to come”.

USAID/Uganda Civil Society Strengthening Activity is a five-year Activity funded by USAID and implemented by East-West Management Institute that aims at supporting the capacity strengthening of Ugandan Civil Society Organizations to contribute to their improved development outcomes in four thematic areas: Health, with particular attention paid to achieving Uganda’s HIV/AIDS’ reduction goals; Education, youth, and child development; Agriculture and food security; and Democracy, rights, and governance.

Kuraish Success Story

Leaders in the Making

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Denise Kecho, one of the GUIDE participants, recording an episode of her “So, what Next” Podcast, which is geared towards breaking the silence on maternal mental health care after loss.

“It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done”, Says Author Terry Pratchett.

The teenage girls in Lira, Northern Uganda, will probably tell you technology is even more magical once you know how it’s done – as they have not only attained digital literacy but have gone on to develop a mobile application that shall link rural girls to online markets to sell products they produce locally, as well as create space for mentorship.

Yet still, that’s not the only magic to arise from GUIDE (Giving Rise to Ugandan Indigenous Direction & Experience), USAID Uganda Civil Society Strengthening Activity’s (CSSA) cutting-edge 12-month leadership program. From empowering rural girls with digital literacy, helping community members register a community-based organization, and creating safe spaces for largely ignored mental health conversations, the USAID/CSSA GUIDE program has had such an impact on the participants that, according to them, they previously only dreamt of.

“Empowering rural girls on digital literacy has always been my passion, but I did not have the opportunity or funding to do it”, says Harriet Adong, one of the GUIDE participants. “So, bringing this idea to reality was a very big dream come true. I am very grateful for the USAID/CSSA GUIDE program”.

Harriet, however, says even more magical and powerful than that is the impact GUIDE has had on her as a person, helping her discover her inner self, in a process that she defines as ‘humbling’.

“I literally found myself in the GUIDE program”, says Harriet, “The growth, learning, and networking experience has been humbling, quite frankly.”

“When I applied for this program, I was at a point of total burnout and depression, because the organization I lead (as Executive Director) had been greatly affected by Covid 19 and there was no Funding coming through. So, I saw this as an opportunity to keep sane”

“Coming from Lira district across the country from the capital, I wasn’t even sure I was going to make it. And then when I did, right about the time we were to start implementation, I fell so ill. I had a major surgery, and I could not do any work, and mentally that hit me so hard. I lost a month, I hadn’t done anything, and it was very depressing”, she recounts.

“But when I opened up to Sophie Kange, who was my mentor from the (USDAI/CSSA) team, she was very supportive in so many levels in helping me to pick up”, she says, “And that experience left me a totally new person”. 

“The GUIDE program is not the kind of program where they just give you money and demand for results. It’s a program that cares about the well-being of the fellows and their personal growth and development, and I have been a huge beneficiary. I realized I did not even know who I was until we did that self-assessment, and the assessment that was done by our mentors”, Harriet adds.

“Among the many aspects, I also learned something very special about developing my individual plan which I will surely tell you I never knew about. It taught me the importance of self-reflection as a leader. I also learned about developing a transitional plan in my organization and creating an organization where we promote inter-generational leadership, while mentoring and building the confidence of the young people”.

As part of the GUIDE program, each participant came up with a project proposal and USAID/CSSA gave them each a grant (UGX 1 million) to implement. It is such a delight that the 30 girls from Lira district under Harriet’s project (Enhancing Basic Digital Literacy skills for Teenage Girls in Ojwina Division Lira District), have not only been introduced to digital literacy, but are developing a mobile application that they have name AGIC-BIZZ, that will support the girls to connect them in different aspects, creating a mentorship space and linking them to online markets to sell the products they produce locally.

“As I speak now, the girls are finalizing the prototype, and I am so thrilled about it because it is the GUIDE that brought out the power of creativity in these girls, who are very passionate about solving the problems in their community”, Harriet says.

Harriet says the mentorship and training she got from Sophie on writing a winning proposal has also borne fruit.

“I wrote a proposal and we got funding to buy computers to set up the girls’ digital innovation space. So basically, the GUIDE program supported the process for us to get more funding”, she says, adding that the donor preferred anonymity.

“My learnings and experience from the GUIDE program have also strengthened the organization that I am employed at as much as AGIC, which I am trying to nourish – and I shall forever be grateful to USAID/CSSA for this”.

The GUIDE program is designed to challenge the present state of affairs in which Ugandan CSOs often operate, by creating opportunities for powerful, thoughtful, and strategic collaboration among leaders representing diverse communities. GUIDE prioritizes the participation of women, younger leaders, and leaders who live and work in rural communities.The twenty (20) inaugural participants were selected to represent different communities, ethnicities, age groups, and thematic areas of the Ugandan civil society. They participated in state-of-the-art learning experiences built around the country’s demonstrated civil society sector needs.

Olive Namutebi, one of the participants through her project helped her community to register a Community Based Organization to foster growth, whereas another participant, Denise Kecho, who has gone through the painful trauma of losing an unborn baby twice, started a podcast that provides sharing and healing space for other women going through similar plights. And these are just a few of the examples of the impact GUIDE has had on the participants and their communities.

Success Story: I Found Myself in the USAID/CSSA GUIDE Program

Strengthening the Communications Capacity of Ugandan CSOs

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Patricia practicing with her group, opting to operate the camera and understand the technicalities involved.

“It’s not just a video of stories. It’s actually creating impact, and drawing the attention of donors”, says Peniel Rwendeire, the Executive Director of Network for Active Citizens (NAC), about the effect of the USAID/Uganda Civil Society Strengthening Activity (CSSA) communications training on his organization.

NAC is one of 12 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that benefitted from a five-day Communications Technical Training conducted by USAID/CSSA through its implementing partner Rana Labs, from June 13 to 17, 2022, in Kampala. At the training, NAC was represented by Patricia Nakitto, who helps manage the organization’s communications strategy. Warm, reserved, and bearing an unmistakable eagerness to learn and a growing passion for digital media, Patricia perfectly represents USAID/CSSA’s proactive approach to promoting women in spaces and industries that have been predominantly male, such as media and communications in Uganda, where the few women in the field are encouraged to be ‘in front of’ rather than ‘behind’ the camera, where the work is more technical. But against those odds, barely a month after the training, Patricia has already single handedly shot, edited, and produced two fundraising videos for SCINE, one of NAC’s member organizations that is working towards facilitating the setting up urban gardens in slum school backyards.

“In the slum communities, food goes a long way in keeping children in school, as they usually leave to find something to eat”, Patricia says, “Setting up these gardens provide not just food, but nutritional food which is ordinarily not prioritized because it is a struggle for most of the slum dwellers to have just a meal everyday. So I feel really privileged to now have this skill that can actually mean a fortune to these children”.

Using what she learned from the workshop, Patricia guided SCINE on how to use Facebook more effectively to share the video, which soon attracted the attention of Seed Programs International (SPI), an American organization that promotes access to quality seeds. SPI has since been helping the organization to mobilize resources through crowdfunding.

“I was then requested to make another video for the DonorSee platform, where, using that video, they have so far raised 25% of the USD 225 they need for a garden that will feed over 100 primary school-going children in Makindye Division, Kampala”, Patricia says. Like many other participants since the training, Patricia has also been creating different communications products including graphics designs such as social media flyers, training presentations, banners, and many others through Canva.

The workshop equipped the (22) participants with a vast array of communications skills that included storyboarding, video shooting, and editing; impact story identification and better writing; graphic design; social media content creation, platform specific strategies, and campaigning; customizing content for different platforms, purposes and audiences; and some tips on how to use these skills for brand building, visibility, advocacy, project implementation, and resource mobilization.

“We have never had such a training before, and we are not going to be the same again”, says Winnifred Ikalai, a participant who represented NAFOPHANU at the workshop.

A delighted Daniel Ikwap, another participant, says; “We are already beginning to patch a few things here and there, and make a surprise to the institution”.

The workshop, which was first of a series, was organized by USAID/CSSA after an organizational capacity assessment of local CSOs showed significant gaps in communications management. That assessment was then followed by a more detailed communications capacity assessment to inform an approach to strengthening the communications capacity of these CSOs.

“We can never, ever, take this opportunity from USAID/CSSA for granted. We are more than grateful for this offer to learn life-changing skills, and cascade the positive impacts to our networks”, says Peniel.

Mobilizing Communities in Racha for Environmental Protection

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In May, the Center for Civic Activities (CCA) received a Rapid Response Grant from the EWMI-implemented USAID Civil Society Engagement Program (CSEP) in Georgia to mobilize citizens in Racha and protect the more than 100,000 hectares of the Racha-Lechkhumi forest that were auctioned off by the Georgian government in April. The auction, which had only one participant, resulted in a 49-year lease of the land for the purpose of developing a hunting farm.

In response to the lack of government transparency regarding the auction and its failure to engage impacted communities in the process, the Center for Civic Activities, in partnership with media portal Mountain News (mtisamebebi.ge), the Racha Community-Based Organization, and the Green Alternative, began an advocacy campaign to hold the government accountable for its decision. The campaign is also advocating for the establishment of a national park in Racha that includes the recently auctioned territory, a process that was initiated by the government more than 20 years ago and promised again most recently in 2019.

As part of its activities, the project team will hold a door-to-door campaign in 30 villages of Racha, informing locals about the terms of the Racha auction and the benefits of establishing a national park. In parallel, the Center for Civic Activities will conduct legislative work for the establishment of a national park and cooperate with members of parliament as well as interested local and international organizations. CCA is also in the process of initiating a court dispute to obtain public information related to the sale of the hunting license and will organize a press tour in Racha for national media outlets to ensure that citizens are informed about the issue and how it may impact them.

Going Digital in Uganda

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Bill Gates once said the Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow. Looking at the numbers, we can see that “tomorrow” has arrived. The internet is the town square for the global village today.

A year-on-year comparison by Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) shows that 3 million new broadband subscriptions were recorded in Uganda between June 2020 and June 2021, a 16% increase. The nearly 22 million broadband subscriptions in the country translate into a broadband penetration of 1 internet connection for every 2 persons. By extension, that is equivalent to an active connection for every 1 of the 17 million adults aged 18 and above in Uganda.

Given this rapid growth in internet access, it is critically important for civil society organizations (CSOs) to have a digital presence if they are to reach communities that literally exist online. For the USAID/Uganda Civil Society Strengthening Activity (CSSA), implemented by EWMI, the vital need for an online presence is a serious consideration when designing approaches to strengthening the organizational capacity of Ugandan CSOs.

CSSA recently collaborated with Diocesan Development Services – North Karamoja (DDS-NK), one of the CSSA Supported CSOs, to build an organizational website that is already changing their operations, and how they interact with donors, the general public, and their various stakeholders.

“Before anything, the email created for the staff (hosted on the website) is much safer, official, and looks more professional”, says Wilfred Luke Komakech, a Programme Manager with DDS-NK, who adds that their team members were initially using their personal emails for official work. This practice affected the confidentiality of messages and made it hard for certain partners to trust them, since custom emails are seen as a form of identity in itself. “We now look more legitimate to the community as a simple Google search can bring us up and connect us with people all over the world, including those who might have never heard about us before”, he says.

Simon Peter Ijala, the organization’s Executive Director says they are now able to apply for funding from certain donors who need a website as one the requirements for application.

“A donor recently sent a form for organizations with websites to fill. We are now up for such opportunities. We believe we will get more donors because of this website. Even with the regular donors, while making proposals, we no longer have to send heavy documents – just links to the pages that have all the information about us. We can now provide content to potential donors with just a few clicks.”

Mr. Ijala went on to add that the new website provided an important boost to the orgzanization’s transparency and accountability now that they can share reports, like quarterly reports, online for their stakeholders.

“We thank CSSA for the support and for walking together with us”.

USAID-Uganda CSSA Supported CSO Goes Digital

Opening Up to Heal

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Infectious smile, powerful ambitious voice – Gloria Mercy Laker could pass for any regular university student. But behind that innocent, delightful look resides a deep story that no young woman chasing her dreams should ever have to go through.

“I now have the courage to smile, but trust me, I could not talk about this, I would only cry and not say a single thing whenever I thought about it”

Gloria is a second-year law student at Uganda Christian University (UCU), one of hundreds of students from UCU who participated in a twitter chat organized by the EWMI-implemented USAID/Uganda Civil Society Strengthening Activity (CSSA) supported Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) to commemorate the 2021 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, in December 2021.

“I think I am one of the people who benefitted the most, after being silent for almost four years”, she says “At first, I was scared that society would rise up and stigmatize me, because that is what usually happens – but this provided a safe space, I got the strength to believe in what I am despite what happened to me”.

After finishing high school in 2018, Gloria hoped and prayed for a government scholarship since her family could not afford university tuition for the law degree dreamed of.

“And I made it (for the government scholarship). I was so happy, my entire family was – but when I went to the University to complete the process, the people in charge asked for (a bribe of) 1 million Uganda shillings, which we did not have”, she recalls, “so I started to relentlessly search for other scholarship opportunities, and that is when it all started”.

Gloria says she went around desperately applying for scholarship positions. “Various men asked me for sex in return for scholarships – most of them tried to use words to get me to give in, but some actually tried to force themselves on me”.

“The first time, this gentleman asked me to get into the car and we were driving to some office. He stopped in the middle of nowhere and started touching me, when I resisted, he left me there in the middle of the road, I had to walk back home. Then I started selling at the market to raise some money but I kept applying”.

“I was luckily shortlisted by one of the biggest organizations that gives scholarships (name withheld). A gentleman from the organization then called me and said I was shortlisted, but he needs to interview me one-on-one as per organizational policy. He came to one of the big hotels in Gulu, he interviewed me, and saw how desperate I was for the opportunity.”

“After signing the documents, he said he had forgotten the stamp in his hotel room. ‘I don’t see my stamp. Please help me go pick the key to room number two. The stamp is on the table.”

“I didn’t suspect anything; I was so excited. I ran and picked the key. On entering the room, I could not see any stamp, and I thought maybe he put it somewhere else. Before I could turn he was in the room and he had locked the door behind him, and then he told me, ‘please relax, we need to talk about this’.

“I said OK, please open the door. We can go back out and talk.”

“He said Gloria, you are an amazing person, but nothing good comes for free”.

“When I refused, he started forcing himself on me, trying to rape me. We had to go through a big fight, I have a scar on my back. We were fighting for the key. I screamed, but unfortunately people came to see me, not to help me. My breasts were all out, my blouse was torn. I managed to open the door and I ran and reported to the police. He was arrested and tested positive for HIV. When I went to follow-up the next day, he had already been released.”

“I thought I would never be able to open up about this, and that kept eating me from the inside, until the 16 Days of Activism came about.”

“What prompted me to speak is I see a lot of beautiful young girls with great potential take these issues of sexual abuses for granted. I realized they think these things are happening out there and not within, they don’t realize they are potential victims, so I decided to speak out. If I can use my story to change even just one life, to give a reason for someone to speak out, then I will. Even when they try to stigmatize me”.

Pereth Niwahereza, a programs assistant with UWONET who was at the center of the program, says it was a unique approach to them as an organization as well. “As UWONET, we rarely use online platforms for such programs, so it was really great, and we reached more people than we had expected. We are very grateful to EWMI and USAID for the partnership – this also helps to inform our future programing”, she says.

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November, (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women), and runs until 10 December, (Human Rights Day). It was started by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and continues to be coordinated each year by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. It is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

The global theme for 2021 was “Orange the world: End violence against women now!”

Enhancing the Transparency of Justice Reform in Albania

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Court and Crime reporting interactive manual produced as part of the project

A Justice Reform Watchdog

BIRN Albania, with support from the USAID-funded Justice for All Project (JfA), successfully finalized implementation of its 18-month project “Enhancing the Transparency of Justice Reform in Albania.” The project aimed to increase the transparency of justice reforms in Albania through monitoring the work of judicial institutions while strengthening the capacities of local journalists to report on and advocate for an open justice system through data driven journalism and independent reporting.

First-of-their-kind monitoring tools

Among many activities and achievements, BIRN’s work on the project led to the publishing of the first interactive manual on crime and court reporting in the country, as well as a first of its kind monitoring report on the transparency of courts in Albania. As part of the project, BIRN also developed and continues to regularly update the most comprehensive database to date of the vetting process, which includes the activities of the Independent Qualification Commission, Public Commissioners, Special College of Appeals, and International Monitoring Mission. More specifically, in relation to the judicial reforms and vetting process, more than 4,100 asset declaration forms filed by more than 340 judges were obtained by BIRN through Freedom of Information requests and were used to identify key trends in judges’ asset declarations and, importantly, the instruments used to hide or misinterpret income or assets. BIRN also produced and published more than 130 in-depth independent analyses on the wealth of individual judges and prosecutors, which served as a watchdog of the vetting processes and helped the public increase its understanding of the processes and reforms.

With JfA’s support, BIRN’s project also contributed to efforts to increase the transparency of the justice system. Four in-depth reports on the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, administrative courts, and first instance courts were produced, along with a groundbreaking monitoring report on the level of transparency of 39 courts at all levels of the judiciary in Albania. The monitoring report used a methodology developed as part of the project and provided a framework for public access to judicial information for the first time. The project also covered more than 200 public hearings of the Independent Evaluations Commission and of the Special College of Appels and BIRN published more than 400 news articles and in-depth stories on the extraordinary reevaluation process.

According to Krisitina Voko, Executive Director of BIRN Albania, “This project was essential for its watchdog role on the vetting institutions, increasing accountability of decision-makers and transforming Reporter.al in the publication of record on the justice reform.”

A local perspective on courts, crime, and justice reform

BIRN’s project also successfully strengthened capacities of local journalists to report on courts, crime, and the justice reform process through its interactive manual on Court and Crime Reporting, which provided on-the-job and formal training to more than 30 journalists from the 12 regions in Albania. With the support of JfA, BIRN also mentored and trained 20 journalists, who ultimately produced and published more than 880 news and in-depth stories from a local perspective from all regions in Albania focused on the activities of local courts and law enforcement agencies and 44 hard-hitting investigative articles on organized crime and judicial corruption. As a result, the number of investigative stories published by local media outlets was increased.

Ethical journalism with an impact

Ms. Voko described the success of the project as follows: “The project played an important role in training and mentoring local journalists to cover court and crime in an ethical manner that respects the highest standards of journalism, while supporting them, with editorial insight to produce in-depth, hard hitting investigative stories that had an impact in society.”

Expanding Women’s Labor Rights in Georgia

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Photo by: Mostafa Meraji

The Parliament of Georgia greatly expanded women’s labor rights via amendments to the Labor Code that were shaped by the guidance and expertise of the USAID-funded Promoting Rule of Law in Georgia Activity (PROLoG). Passed on September 29, 2020 after 18 months of discussions with different social partners and intense public and parliamentary debates, the Labor Code amendments promote gender equality in the workplace and provide new protections for all workers. 

The amendments expand protections for pregnant women and mothers, who could be denied the right to return to the same job and working conditions following maternity leave, child care leave, or leave due to adoption of a newborn under the previous version of the law. The amendments further support the professional development of women by requiring employers to consider participation in professional trainings or qualification upgrading courses as work time for which employees will be remunerated in cases where the employer has required the participation of the employee.

Under the amendments, the scope of prohibition of discrimination in employment and professional activities within labor and pre-contractual relations has been expanded as well, and will also apply to pre-contractual selection criteria and employment conditions and promotion on all levels of professional hierarchy regardless of the sphere of activity. The amendments also prohibit discrimination on the grounds of a health condition.

Protections for all workers are further strengthened by requiring written employment agreements for all employment relationships exceeding one month.

Most significantly, the amendments have established an effective enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance to the code. According to Dimitri Tskitishvili, Georgian Member of Parliament (MP), “as a result of the adoption of this amendment package, Georgia now has significantly improved legal standards for labor rights and a solid legal foundation to establish an independent and fully-pledged Labor Inspection.”

PROLoG became involved in the legislative reform efforts in 2018 when the Parliament’s Gender Equality Council (GEC) requested experts to advise on the drafting of a legislative package on women’s labor rights. PROLoG experts Anna Maisuradze and Zizi Chkhaidze collaborated with the GEC to draft a law and explanatory notes that later became part of Labor Code reforms. The draft law not only reflected European directives and international obligations, but also included recommendations prepared by PROLoG legal aid grantee NGOs based on strategic litigation in common courts.

The GEC supported an inclusive and participatory process to amend the Labor Code and, before the adoption of the legislative changes, PROLoG conducted several meetings with relevant stakeholders to discuss the existing practices and challenges in women’s pre-contractual and labor relations, as well as future prospects for reform. PROLoG’s experts also participated in discussions with the Ministry of Labor, Health, Social Affairs, MPs, and business sector representatives.

Following the passage of the amendments, Mr. Tskitishvili expressed his gratitude to USAID for its “continuous support and significant contribution in this very long and challenging journey to improve the labor rights and standards in Georgia for the benefit of the employees and economic prosperity of the country.” 

Photo by Laura Rivera

Engaging Communities in Socio-Economic Development

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The new facility is the first pastry bakery in the area.

Amazing things can happen when citizens come together to plan and implement development projects that address the economic issues facing their community. Despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, EWMI has continued to work with Community Development Councils (CDCs) in Azerbaijan through the USAID-funded Socio-Economic Development Activity (SEDA) to bring citizens together to develop such projects.

For many members of the Balagusar community of the Gusar Rayon, the sale of dried fruit and berries traditionally has provided a significant portion of their income. More recently, this income generating activity has been under threat of abandonment because domestic methods of fruit drying and the lack of fruit drying facilities in the area made the products less competitive at market. With support from EWMI, the Balagusar community came together to establish a new fruit drying facility. The new facility consisting of a storehouse, water closet unit, processing room, drying room and technical room will have a positive impact on the Balagusar community and the development of fruit-growing in other communities in Gusar rayon.

In June 2020, the Piran community in the Lerik District officially opened a new honey processing facility. More than 700 beekeepers from 40 villages of Lerik Rayon will benefit from this facility, which consists of a honey storage tank, honey comb, honey dosing, capping, labeling and honey heating equipment.

In the in Yardimli District, with EMWI support, the Koryadi community constructed a new pastry bakery which will initially employ four local women. The new facility is equipped with a baking oven, kneader, cream mixer, and other modern bakery equipment, and is the first pastry bakery in the area. The new facility will provide new economic opportunities for the residents of Koryadi and have a positive impact on the community.