Justice and Human Rights Awareness Takes Off In Daykundi


Daykundi Governor Qurban Ali Oruzgani addresses the conference.

Nili, Daikundi – Over 120 government officials, community and religious leaders, women's groups, and justice providers in Daykundi attended the conference to introduce the Afghanistan Public Legal Awareness Strategy and Legal Aid Policy. The conference, held in the provincial capital Nili, was opened by the Governor, and featured presentations by the heads of the Legal (Huquq) and Legal Aid Departments on Kabul's newest policies to assist the poor in the country's most remote regions in accessing fair and equitable justice.
The conference was supported under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Fund (MDG-F) as part of the Peace through Justice programme, a joint programme conducted through UNDP, UN Women, UNICEF and UNODC that focuses on district-level justice sector capacity building and public legal awareness.

Nili is in the center of Daykundi province, and is both the provincial and district capital. As you drive into the city through the sand dunes and dust, layers of majestic mountains stretching into the horizon on all sides, it is hard to imagine that this small village, consisting of little more than a mud-brick market, could be the major urban center for the province. Driving out of the main residential area, home to Nili's 8,000 citizens, and over a crest in a valley, a number of newly constructed, multi-level buildings come into view. Though none of these buildings have running water or electricity yet, city planning has clearly gained momentum recently. Nili is developing.

Daykundi is a new province in Afghanistan. Carved out of the northern half of Uruzgan in 2001 by the current government, the province is struggling to overcome the vast distances, rugged terrain, limited infrastructure and under-developed resources within its borders. While justice providers at the district level across the country lack basic knowledge of the Afghan legal system and laws, Daykundi does not have a single defense lawyer in the entire province, and less than half the districts have judges or prosecutors in place. Most legal issues fall out of necessity to the shuras, or elders' councils, who have little to no formal education, and rely heavily on local traditions and Islamic beliefs to guide their verdicts.

"This is a wonderful initiative," said Nili Mayor Azra Jafari, the first female mayor in Afghanistan. "There is such a shortage of basic knowledge in Daykundi. I get constant calls from District Heads (Woluswali) asking for help with planning and development. Even for little things. And there is just no awareness about the law. We need to make sure that all of Daykundi's districts get access to this information, because it will help people understand what they have a right to, and how the justice system works so they can access their rights."
The Public Legal Awareness and Legal Aid conference marks the first step in PtJ's justice strengthening programme. Working with civil society organizations both in the province and from Kabul, UNDP will be providing specialized legal trainings to judges, prosecutors, and judiciary police, as well as other community leaders, such as religious and traditional leaders, women's shuras, and teachers. These trainings are underpinned with nationwide and geographically targeted media campaigns, which present legal procedures and laws in an accessible format for the majority under-educated public in rural Afghanistan.

The Daykundi Department of Women’s Affairs provided a makeshift venue to host the unprecedented crowd.

"I am very excited about this conference," said Samira, a high school student from Nili. "I want to know about the law. Women do not have the same rights as men in Daykundi, so we need to educate ourselves to make us stronger."
The Peace through Justice (PtJ) Joint Programme is fully funded by the Spanish Government through the Millennium Development Goal Fund (MDG-F). The PtJ Programme helps to develop the capacities of the Government of Afghanistan in providing rule of law services and in complying with international human rights standards, as well as carrying out public legal awareness activities at the district level.

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