Highlighting work throughout Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa
The American Bar Association Center for Global Programs 2023 Annual Report covered a breadth of programmatic work between the ABA Center for Human Rights and the ABA Rule of Law Initiative—84 programs in 62 countries. Learn more about our work advancing the rule of law and advocating for human rights.
The report covers our programmatic work around the world, including enforcing labor laws and monitoring trials of human rights defenders, journalists, and vulnerable populations; providing legal aid to indigenous and vulnerable communities; and reviewing and providing recommendations to governments on laws geared towards anti-money laundering.
ABA ROLI’s work in 2021 covered a range of rule of law areas, including legal education, women’s economic empowerment, constitution reform, countering trafficking in persons, and counter hate speech and disinformation.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, ABA ROLI adapted its programming to include online and virtual components. This annual report also features videos of interviews we conducted with our staff in the Philippines and Barbados to discuss our programming their respective countries.
2020 marks the 30th Anniversary of the founding of CEELI/ROLI. In those 30 years, ABA CEELI/ROLI has worked in more than 100 countries connecting more than 8,000 volunteer lawyers and judges to rule of law programs.
Our programs have changed to meet emerging economic, legal, and political challenges. Whether we are working with lawyers in Armenia to implement best practices in international law, advocating to criminalize slavery in Mali, training lawyers in Southeast Asia on Internet advocacy, or supporting the justice sector in Liberia, we seek lasting institutional reform.
Our work covers a wide range of rule of law challenges and in this report is organized along four program areas—Governance and Justice System Strengthening, Human Rights and Access to Justice, Transitions, Conflict Mitigation and Peacebuilding, and Inclusive and Sustainable Development.
Working on today’s rule of law front lines, our work facilitated legal assistance to refugees in Turkey, supported a civil society campaign against corruption in Ukraine, and contributed to the post-conflict transition and constitutional reform process in the Central African Republic.
From mobilizing lawyers to protect Syrian refugees’ rights and training civil society to safeguard internet freedom in Southeast Asia to boosting forensics capacity to counter Central America’s murderous gangs and using an SMS-text based system to prevent atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, our programs seek creative strategies to strengthen the rule of law.
Our programs offer a range of technical assistance that empowers remote communities, prison systems, defense counsels, law students, youth and others to help to end that country’s rape crisis.
Our recent work is marked by new initiatives that, for example, touch upon key needs in the areas of health, economic development and media rights; including the development of the HIV/AIDS Assessment Tool to analyze a country’s compliance with international legal standards on the protection of people affected by HIV.
Through our work with women’s groups, legal aid offices, human rights advocates and other non-governmental organizations and members of civil society, we seek to educate and empower citizens and their communities; including the development of the Detention Procedure Assessment Tool and the Access to Justice Assessment Tool.
Together with our local partners, we are helping to create stronger, more fair and transparent legal institutions, which empower communities and citizens alike.
Over the years, ABA ROLI has played a role in a number of firsts through our programs—the first national public defender system in Armenia, the first independent, self-regulating bar association in Georgia and the first court-annexed mediation programs in Jordan and in Mexico.
Since we began our operations nearly 20 years ago, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) has remained committed to strengthening legal institutions, to empowering communities and to improving the lives of citizens around the world.
