Discussion about entry: Rural Communities Criminal Justice Awareness Project - RCC-JAP

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Robert when he was awarded a JusticeMakers Fellowship last year in 2009. During the year-long fellowship Robert worked incredibly hard to ensure his RCCJMC project was a success. The JusticeMakers team were inundated with stories on the many people Robert’s project provided assistance to. Robert has provided an invaluable service to his community which so many people have already benefitted from. I think it’s incredibly important that the project should continue and I strongly recommend Robert and support him in his application.

Good luck!

I appreciate your work.Your work is serving the grassroots struggle for justice.
Now a day in my country under military a lot of suffer mostly in village people. In that we serve the grassroots, we do not struggle for them. Instead we give them the tools and support to assist the grassroots people to lead the struggle for social, economic and political change in Burma.
* The village people will being charge of their own information. This will be important source of power for them.
* The reporting of human rights abuses will not depend on the presence of outside documentalists, who may not always be around when abuses occur. Should the Thai/Burma border be closed in the near future, human rights abuses within the country can still be documentated and reported to the outside world
* Village people will feel less like victims, but rather as human beings capable of fighting back
* Villae people wil not only know when their rights are being abused, but they will also understand the political and economic mechanisms which encourage and multiply these abuses .

To build up international awareness and support for the struggle in UGANDA by acting as a bridge between the grassroots people of UGANDA and international community in such a way that the grassroots people help international support groups focus actions on the most critical issues which prolong the country's cycle of war.
Regards,
Aung
Burmese

First of all I would like to congratulate Robert for his wonderful project! What I've read so far is beautiful and truly inspiring. I really think there should be more schemes like this in rural areas, not only in Uganda but worldwide.

Although I haven't finished reading the whole project, I've already invited some friends to have a look at this website and post some comments. It's really worth the effort if only for the real change Robert has been achieving in his community.

I really hope you get the award Robert, I'm sure dozens of people would benefit enormously from it.

All the best,
Ana.

It was really interesting to read about your project. I think it's a brilliant idea and I wish you all the best to be able to implement it! I also think that it is very important that your project embraces not only education, but also help to report infringements of the law and control that the proper procedures are being followed. It is not a secret that in some countries the police works not always properly; it means that even when people resort to the help of the police, their rights are not always protected. This kind of negative experience may lead to the situation when people do not believe that the police may protect them. It is a good idea to control that in every case a person whose rights are infringed gets proper help and protection. This will bring real results, the rights of people will be protected, and they will believe in fairness and justice.

Dear Robert,

I wanted to congratulate you on this brilliant initiative tackling the promotion of basic human rights from the grass root level. Awareness of basic rights to which each human being is entitled and access to information in this respect are critical to the promotion of human rights.
With this initiative, you have fully grasped the importance of creating a simple yet flexible framework to providing justice. Something keeping things simple leads to better results.

Best of luck,
Fabien

Hi Robert, firstly let me say how admirable your project is; your work is undoubtedly invaluable to communities who may receive no other help, and without individuals such as yourself then basic human rights (which should of course be guaranteed for all) are in great danger of being completely overlooked. Your project takes a direct stand against human rights violations and by providing information to all you are helping to educate people, to me this appears to be one of the greatest successes of your project as this will undoubtedly be a long-term benefit to communities. I understand your project works with many communities and I assume that the ideas and successes of cases are shared between communities? Communities working together in this way will of course help create a network of support which is key when dealing with human rights violations.

Hi Robert,
the main obstacle for ensuring justice for poor rural people is their ignorance of the law. This leads to the frequent and blatant trampling of their rights by private exploiters and the government staff. Thus your idea of providing free legal advice and also empowering the people themselves to understand the law better and thus establishing the rule of law for the common citizen is indeed commendable. We too have been trying to do the same among the Bhil tribal community in India and our entry details the way in which we have gone about it - http://www.changemakers.com/node/90261

I believe that this is a very noble project and I wish you all the best Robert. I look forward to working with you.

I wish you the best for your project I like your idea to develop a section in your information center, and to organize dialog with communities, I think the best way to fight injustice is to sensitize local people.

I appreciate the efforts of Robert Kibaya for rural development.First thing which inspired me the work with the rural communities. Because most of the times the development is directed toward the urban population. Its a good project in a sense that people have access to legal advice at their door step. But i want to add here that the poplutaion should be first sensitized about the issues. There are many of the issues which are not regarded as an abuse. Like in Pakistan domestic violence and especially wife battering is not thought to be an abuse. So the population needs to be given legal literacy. Abnd secondly either the population should be given legal training or sholud be encouraged to get legal education so that after completion of your project there should be no space or gap left. And population itself should be able to solve their problems

Robert, congratulations on a wonderful project bringing change to local communities through legal education and access. Empowering communities to advocate for themselves starts a process that can endure regardless of the degree of external support. The strong positive feedback you have received from participants reflects how well you have put your idea into practice.

Building faith and confidence in the justice system is of fundamental importance and your project makes an incredible contribution towards this goal.

Dear Colleagues

This project is about local professional people helping a local community to have a better quality of life. The idea has a focus on legal matters, but the idea is bigger than this ... and could apply in many other areas of socio-economic performance.

This project is very encouraging to me ... I am an advocate for micro-up community level initiatives that have real value for community. My system of value accounting suggests that this is a much better way to progress than the big international boondoggles that get funded with national debt and make everyone better off except needy beneficiaries.

Well done ... I like it.

Peter Burgess

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Mr.Robert Kibaya and all the team members of the Rural Communities Criminal Justice Awareness Project for the dedicated and professional way in which they contributed to the review, handled the logistical aspects in their respective districts and gave generously of their expertise and experiences.
Victims of gender based violence which make up an estimated third of
all crimes committed in the country.Better public information will increase women’s access to the formal justice system.
Grassroots Justice Project are highly relevant.,It should be noted that this project titled providing Access to Justice and Legal Awareness at the Grassroots Level.
My recommendation of this project as component One to consist of selection and training of current or potential community leaders, equipping them with a basic knowledge of the law, its procedures and institutions in UGANDA. They would also be trained to be able to provide information and legal guidance, education and assistance to members of their communities.
Building on this, Component Two is to consist of a legal education and awareness campaign for the population of the targeted communities. The information providing to
the rural communities is intended to raise awareness and knowledge of basic laws,rights and institutions and also to empower the poor.
Component Two must consist of District Workshops, Community Dialogues and Village Workshops cover including: Access to Justice
and the Formal Justice Sector; Mediation and Conflict Resolution; Gender and Women’s rights; Domestic Violence; Citizenship; and Child Rights.
One of the young man from my country said ---.
We ordinary people always follow the formal law but the people who make the laws know how to use them and to use other laws to protect themselves. Traditional law experts are bound by the law. If they do wrong they will be subject to the law themselves.
Welcome efforts have been made to raise legal awareness at the Grassroots Level.Media reports of violence against women, children and vulnerable groups have increased awareness.

Aung