Global Rule of Law Programs

The Justice Sector Training, Research and Coordination Plus Program (JusTRAC+)

The Justice Sector Training, Research and Coordination Plus (JusTRAC+) Program is focused on enhancing collaboration and strengthening evidence-based programming among justice sector practitioners in the U.S. Government and beyond. JusTRAC+ fosters opportunities for information sharing and dialogue and supports learning by improving access to evidence-based practices. ABA ROLI facilitates the efforts of the JusTRAC+ thematic communities of practice (CoP) on Justice Sector Measurement and the Nexus of Transnational Organized Crime and Corruption including the development of practice notes for practitioners, focused on court performance measurement, countering corruption-enabled transnational crime, and measuring success in judicial reform initiatives. The JusTRAC+ Knowledge Portal (www.justracportal.org/) is a platform where members access curated resources on a variety of rule of law topics and participate in discussion boards and information sharing.

The Criminal Justice Collaboration and Partnership Program (CJ-CAP)

The Criminal Justice Collaboration and Partnership (CJ-CAP) Program empowers small groups of criminal justice actors to develop a coordinated, interagency approach to tackling cross-cutting criminal justice problems that cannot be addressed by one agency alone. The tailored fellowship includes learning through seminars and workshops with subject-matter experts, exposure through institutional visits, and mentorship by U.S. peers with expertise in the area of the intended change. Fellows learn core concepts of change management and develop a detailed change plan, including a clear problem statement, goal, theory of change, objectives, activities, timelines, and responsibility. 

The Legal Reform Fund (LRF)

The Legal Reform Fund (LRF) is a unique program to address barriers to women's full and effective participation in economic life. LRF approaches women's economic empowerment as an intersectional challenge, closely tied to other impediments to gender equality. Confronting the root causes of inequality requires closing gaps in national legal frameworks and affecting policy/regulatory reforms, as well as supporting full implementation of de jure systems to translate into de facto lived experiences for women worldwide. 

The program focuses on five critical thematic areas that draw from and build upon research by the World Bank Institute; World Economic Forum; and other academic, non-governmental, and inter-governmental organizations, as well as years of ABA ROLI learning and programming. These areas are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. Country/regional projects may focus on one or more of the five thematic areas, all supported by global "Communities of Practice" including pro bono partners with specific issue expertise. 

The Reducing Incidence of Child Labor and Harmful Conditions of Work in Economic Strengthening (RICHES) Initiative

The Reducing Incidence of Child Labor and Harmful Conditions of Work in Economic Strengthening (RICHES) Initiative addresses the risk of child labor and harmful conditions of work in women’s economic empowerment (WEE) initiatives by developing and piloting a set of tools that integrate awareness of these risks into WEE initiatives. As a subaward to the Grameen Foundation, ABA ROLI’s team of technical and local experts produced a Pre-Situational Analysis (PSA) on the intersection of child labor, working conditions, and WEE in two pilot countries (El Salvador and the Philippines); supported the development of a toolkit; and coordinated the review and pilot of the tools with local and global stakeholders. To date, the PSA has been shared with over 200 stakeholders.

Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE)

Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) is a global consortium to advance the status of women and girls, led by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) in close partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), Grameen Foundation, and Search from Common Ground (SFCG). WAGE works to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs), private sector and semi-private sector organizations, including micro finance institutions (MFIs) and business associations, in target countries to:

1.  improve the prevention of and response to gender-based violence (GBV); 

2. advance the women, peace, and security agenda; 

3. and to support women’s economic empowerment.

In this context, WAGE provides direct assistance to women and girls, including information, resources, and services they need to succeed as active and equal participants in the global economy. WAGE also engages in collaborative research and learns to build a body of evidence on relevant promising practices in these thematic areas. To account for the deeply interconnected nature of women’s and girls’ experiences, WAGE’s initiatives employ approaches that are highly collaborative, integrated, multidisciplinary, and inclusive. There are WAGE initiatives in El Salvador, Eswatini, Ghana, Honduras, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan, Timor Leste, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. To learn more about WAGE, visit  www.wageglobal.org.