Rule of Law and Human
Rights Global Programme
Impact
Thematic focus
 = Global Focal Point

Africa

Arab states

Asia-Pacific

Europe and Central Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Justice Futures CoLab

The Justice Futures CoLab was launched to promote new ways of thinking and approaching complex justice and rule of law challenges. The CoLab illustrates UNDP’s commitment and strategy to do more and do better (and differently). A more strategic, people-centred and rights-based approach is taken to ensure meaningful access to justice for all, starting with those most at risk of being left behind.

Human rights systems

UNDP continues to support strengthening national human rights systems (NHRIs). Independent, effective and pluralistic NHRIs are cornerstones of national systems to promote and protect human rights.

Anti-racism

In 2021, after racial justice protests and movements emerged in the United States and other parts of the world, the United Nations and its various funds, programmes and other entities also took up a renewed commitment to fight against racism and racial discrimination both within the organization and also through their approaches.

Business and human rights

UNDP has been supporting the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) since 2016. This support has involved programming across the three pillars of the protect, respect and remedy framework, engaging with states, business actors and civil society.

Community security

The global context has become ever more challenging with ongoing war, coups d‘état, attempted coups d‘état, turmoil and instability in several countries. In the midst of such widespread political tension and fragility, UNDP has stayed the course towards people-centred security by promoting solutions that strengthen state institutions in line with people’s needs.

Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law

The UN Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law (GFP) is a joint arrangement for delivery of the rule of law in fragile settings. Co-chaired by UNDP and the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO), GFP reinforces One-UN approach at the global and national levels to address violent conflicts, protect human rights and restore justice and security for people affected by crisis and conflict.

Regional overview - Africa

Libya

Impact by Regions,
Countries & Territories
Arab States

As institutional division and intermittent conflict have continued, diminishing people’s trust in state institutions, UNDP maintained its critical investment in Libya's democratization process, good governance, transparency, and building capacities for an inclusive social contract.

In the second half of 2022, UNDP supported the situation analysis of the rule of law and access to justice in the country and the review of the Policing and Security Joint Programme (2017-2022), implemented jointly by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and UNDP. Based on this analysis, a new rule of law and justice programme has been designed for three years (2023-2025). This new initiative focuses on strengthening rule of law for those most in need, and will integrate a community-oriented, people-centred and partnership-based approach. UNDP has collaborated with the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and the UNSMIL in developing the new rule of law initiative.

UNDP has utilized this preparatory phase to facilitate and improve cooperation between the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the two key state bodies mandated to promote and protect the rule of law in the country.

In January 2023, the MoJ and the MoI signed a joint statement formally accepting the UNDP rule of law project, which summarizes the agreed priorities and envisages support to governmental entities at national, sub-national and local levels, and to the civil society throughout the country.

As part of the project development efforts, a workshop with 30 high-level participants from the MoJ, the MoI and the Attorney General’s Office was organized in Tunisia in December 2022. Co-led by the two ministries and through a co-creation process, the workshop set priorities for the next three years. These included support to the e-justice system in the prisons, information and communication (ICT) infrastructure support to courts and police stations and creating job opportunities for young professionals in the judicial system. By including these aspects in the next phase of its rule of law project, UNDP ensured a solid foundation for the project implementation and guaranteed its strong national ownership.

Partnerships

The new project design process has allowed UNDP to expand its cooperation with the national stakeholders despite the continued political stalemate and limited entry points in the formal political landscape.

With the support provided through the UN Global Focal Point for the Rule of Law (GFP), UNDP reached out to multiple rule of law and justice stakeholders across the country. The key stakeholders include people living in Libya, civil society, academia and government institutions, including the justice sector.

In previous programmes, UNDP worked with donors on shared goals regarding rule of law and justice, such as decreasing impunity, anti-corruption, training actors in the chain of justice and setting shared priorities. Development partners including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Government of the Netherlands, the Government of France, the Government of Germany, the Government of Italy and the European Union were consulted during the project development phase. The Government of Italy has approved the reallocation of balance of funds under the Policing and Security Joint Programme (2017-2022) toward the new rule of law project.

lessons learned

Leave No One Behind

Implementing the rule of law, justice, and human rights programming in Libya poses risks and challenges, especially regarding justice for women and migrants. To mitigate these risks, UNDP will continue working with donor partners to advocate for more inclusive and non-discriminative approaches. For instance, the new rule of law and justice project has a particular focus on access to justice for women and youth. In addition, thanks to the GFP support, UNDP will strengthen the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) component in its rule of law activities to adjust programming where needed to enhance the impact and proactively address shortcomings during the project cycle.

Going forward, a local justice study will be conducted with GFP support to assess the rule of law, justice and security situation in three municipalities. Based on these assessments, three justice plans (one for each locality) will be developed, applying area-based and people-centred methodologies. In addition, to launch the new rule of law and justice project, UNDP will host the Local Justice Forum in Benghazi to promote a whole-of-society approach and engage peacebuilding, political resilience, humanitarian and human rights partners to ensure the project's sustainability.

Key
results
  • Technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior and the Attorney General’s Office for the identification of the rule of law, justice, and security priorities for the next three years resulted in the design of the new UNDP Rule of Law and Justice Programme (2023-2025).
  • Needs assessment of Libya's justice needs was completed and paved the way for a demand-driven and people-centred approach with strong national ownership.
  • UNDP launched the process to assess the rule of law, justice and security situation in three municipalities in South, West and East Libya to improve access to justice for vulnerable populations, including migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees and host communities.