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

Azerbaijan

Impact by Regions,
Countries & Territories
Europe and Central Asia

In Azerbaijan, the support from UNDP’s Global Programme for Strengthening the Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice and Security for Sustainable Peace and Development (the Global Programme) gave a new impetus for the long-term programming on human rights promotion and protection at the national and local levels. The Global Programme’s support contributed to human rights and gender mainstreaming, enabled free legal aid provision to the most vulnerable and created space to promote business and human rights agendas.

Leave No One Behind

Gender equality

In 15 regions, UNDP provided free legal aid services to conflict-affected individuals, internally displaced persons (IDPs), financially disadvantaged communities, survivors of gender-based violence, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. Over 1,200 people benefitted and became more equipped to claim their rights and demand accountability, while bringing about sustainable change in their communities. Despite many challenges, 44 percent of all the individuals that received legal aid were women. UNDP actively enhanced women’s access to human rights and justice via cooperation with national actors, awareness raising initiatives and mobile services provided directly in remote communities. The matter of civil justice was a particular focus of the free legal aid providers, including social protection, housing and family issues.

In line with the UNDP’s Gender Equality Strategy for 2022-2025, a gender-sensitive portfolio review was conducted to strengthen gender mainstreaming and to ensure the gender-balanced approach in developing projects across all portfolios.

lessons learned

To increase visibility of the legal aid services and reach more marginalized groups in remote areas, it is essential to use a variety of communication channels to overcome physical and psychological barriers to accessing legal aid services and make people aware that such services are available to them. The visibility of the services can be increased through, for example, marking the premises of existing legal aid advice centres, creating more remote access points for legal aid at places that are frequented by locals (for example, a local post office), and launching information campaigns tailored to the needs of all people in Azerbaijan including marginalized groups.

Additionally, mere consultations may not always be sufficient to resolve the legal issues, legal aid services need to be moved further to support engagement in the court. This will allow people to apply for legal aid in all administrative and civil proceedings, including proceedings at first instance courts, to ensure that every person can exercise their right to a fair trial.

Partnerships

To ensure the sustainability of free legal aid services in the country, UNDP worked with Azerbaijan Bar Association and other national partners to improve their capacities to assist in civil and administrative cases. New legal aid guidelines, developed in line with the UN and Council of Europe standards, were presented with consolidated recommendations from the Ministry of Justice, Bar Association and legal clinics at the universities to improve the quality and effectiveness of the legal aid services and address legislative gaps.

Business and Human Rights

To promote the business and human rights (B+HR) agenda in Azerbaijan, UNDP presented to the government and the private sector the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) as the key international guidance for responsible business practices. To improve the capacity of the Ombudsperson’s Office, Azerbaijan’s national human rights institution (NHRI), to work in the B+HR area, UNDP organized a training of trainers for ten NHRI experts and 15 representatives of civil society, academia, Bar Association and private sector. UNDP facilitated the NHRI study visit to the Danish Institute of Human Rights and hosted an international conference where 40 experts and NHRI representatives from 15 countries discussed their joint action plans to collaborate on B+HR. The Ombudsperson Office of Azerbaijan committed to conduct a baseline assessment of B+HR with support of 22 institutions representing government bodies and the private sector. Once the assessment is completed, advocacy efforts will be accelerated for the adoption of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

Human rights

Furthermore, UNDP focused on mainstreaming a human rights-based approach (HRBA) and human rights due diligence (HRDD) both within the UN Country Team (UNCT) and among national partners.

UNDP, together with the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and the UN Resident Coordinator, facilitated a training session on HRBA for the UNCT management team to enhance the skills of UN agencies in applying HRBA to development programmes and projects, and to support key partner institutions.

Innovation

UNDP provided the training of trainers on HRBA for 30 experts (including 13 women) of the Law and Human Rights Institute who, in their turn, built the capacity of 12 state institutions on HRBA. UNDP also supported the launch of an innovative online library. Hosted at the website of the Law and Human Rights Institute, the library presents a comprehensive and unique source of legal and human rights information for practitioners, researchers and students.

The establishment and operation of these local structures played an important role in the absence of strong and transparent judicial and law enforcement institutions. In addition, women and individuals from other vulnerable groups find it easier to approach the informal justice structures for resolving their domestic issues. There is still a lot of stigma around women approaching formal institutions. A number of success stories were reported where women and other minority groups were able to resolve their conflicts through the committees and platforms created by UNDP.

Going forward, UNDP will cooperate with the Ministry of Interior, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Law and Human Rights Institute to deliver a “Right to Security” training in six regional centres of Azerbaijan for police officers and prosecutors from all the 80 regions of the country. The training will serve as one of the steps to address police violence in detention centres.

Key
results
  • 1,273 individuals (48.6 percent were women) from marginalized groups and remote areas received free legal aid services provided with UNDP’s support.
  • The Ombudsperson’s Office (NHRI) is conducting a baseline assessment on business and human rights with the support of 22 government and private entities, after receiving capacity building support from UNDP.
  • Twelve state institutions were capacitated on the use of the human rights-based approach.