Rural Communities Criminal Justice Awareness Project - RCC-JAP
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Robert
Kibaya
, MUK
Kikandwa Rural Communities Development Organisation
+256414670686; +256712848448
#494 Kikandwa Village, Kabembe Parish, Kyampisi Sub-County, Mukono
, MUK
1‐5 years
, MUK
To date, RCC-JAP has formed two committees and if funding is obtained is looking forward to create another. Over time, should funding be available, the RCC-JAP concept can, & will, easily be extended to additional villages in the area.
The committee members will undergo training in basic criminal justice, human rights, and legal procedures in order to assist them in extensive community sensitization, monitoring, and how to refer the abused to contracted legal counselors and report any human rights abuses in their communities. Dialogues between community people and key representatives from the police, judiciary, human rights organizations, local government, and legal defenders will be periodically organized for free community sensitization, consultation, and guidance.
The establishment of two community legal aid clinics to offer free legal services to communities is a principal objective as lawyer’s services are always needed by the community. Information on criminal justice, human rights issues, key policies and the contact details of key departments like police, district security, & other important organizations will be freely provided to community through the resource center
The establishment of the RCC-JAP committees will increase capacity for rural populations to access key legal information and to demand their basic rights when at risk.
With the two CLACs serving thirty villages of 9,000 people in Kyampisi, rural community members will have a chance to take legal steps in combating any injustice and human rights abuses without the limitations of distance, illiteracy, poverty, or other factors. Again, the CLACs will act as centers for legal document drafting for rural community members.
The committees will offer an enhanced ability for rural populations in need of legal services to access quality counsel and to take the necessary legal steps in curbing abuses and exercising their rights.
The project will improve a community information resource in Kikandwa to offer free information on human rights, legal practices, property rights issues, and other legal issues. Currently, a section on human rights and criminal justice programs has been established in the resource center in Kikandwa and we are currently soliciting material from different stakeholders to be accessed freely by the community.
101‐1000
Less than $50
Yes
Yes. The project seeks to sensitize and educate communities on newly passed bills which are laws, including land rights and domestic violence policies. They were passed last year and many people know very little about them yet they are now used by the courts in cases on land rights and domestic violence here in Uganda. Understanding the content of these policies is very important for people in rural communities, especially women and children, for they clearly define their rights on property, forms of domestic violence and laws against them, and other important topics. Additionally, the project will be able to represent its community members to government agencies to help ensure that new or changed policies are implemented which match with community needs and desires.
Operating for 1‐5 years
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
RCC-JAP is working in partnership with several NGOs during its implementation. Working with NGOs has helped greatly due to their advanced experience and expertise in areas that RCC-JAP is not well versed. For example, during the implementation of my justice makers project in Kikandwa, I invited the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association to educate community members on the land and domestic violence bills which had been passed by the parliament and were awaiting the President’s signature before becoming law. Partnership with local businesses has also been an asset. For example, RCC-JAP partnered with a local advocate firm M/s Mungoma, Mabonga Wakhakha & Company Advocates which provided two visiting layers to my justice makers project. A number of partnerships have been formed with businesses in order to tackle other issues such as bookkeeping and information publishing & distribution. Government departments have helped with recommendations and permission to call public dialogues.
In its initial stages RCC-JAP will be primarily supported by grants and donations from foreign donors. So far, one grant has been awarded to the project to justice makers by International Bridges to Justice worth US$5,000, which was used to kick-start the project’s activities in June, 2009. Additionally, contributions from the management committee of the organization have been useful in covering financial gaps. There is no formal Business Plan or Revenue model yet created. The current objective is to obtain funding that will enable the establishment of the CLAC’s and documenting the governance and operating procedures of RCC-JAP. In parallel, a formal business plan is in process of being drafted with volunteer assistance that has already been offered by a Canadian NGO. This will be based on the concepts included in this proposal. It is anticipated that the revenue model of the RCC-JAP will be based on a combination of grant and foreign aid augmented by funding from the local villages for the next 3-5 years at a minimum.
I was brought up in rural area and I have extensive experience on how things are done there. In most of the villages in Uganda, things are far different from those in urban places. Very little attention is paid to rural community members in government service delivery at all levels. This is so because the rural communities are not well represented in most of the national development programs. Most of the rural community representatives are not natives of the very communities that they serve, thus their performance is never adequate for community uplifting. Communication and information access is very poor in rural areas and they are always marginalized based on their low literacy levels. A basic education of key issues is never well or completely implemented in rural communities. This has kept the rural communities far behind in most development programs.
The majority of rural community members, especially women and children, are continuously suffering at the hands of their fellow man because they do not know how or where to report criminal cases. Rural women and children in my community face many hardships which include (but not limited to) rape, harsh treatment, property rights abuse, and intimidation. Most of their cases are never presented in courts of law for judicial action because they lack information on whom to contact and so issues are always resolved unprofessionally on a personal basis, often with bribery.
In 2003, I laid a strategy to help out people in my community by establishing an organization called Kikandwa Rural Communities Development Organization (KIRUCODO) with the aim of empowering rural communities through skills development, sensitization and training. Implementing the strategy has been a challenge as many seemed to not support the initiative of assisting in empowering rural communities. A plan of action was developed with a focus on sensitizing rural people and educating them about the need to help each other rather than waiting for outsiders who may have different goals. Today, all the development programs going on within my community are mainly supported by the people themselves. They learned that helping each other and working together as a team is the best approach for social and economic development.
Professionally, Robert is a Science Technologist in Biological Sciences. Founded and managing Non-Governmental Organization- Kikandwa Rural Communities Development Organization (KIRUCODO) and is 2008 Justice Makers Fellow of International Bridges to Justice
Since 2003, Robert has served in various organizations in the capacity of: Systems administrator for ICT-4 Schools & Community under Mission Harvest Ministries Africa; volunteer in the department of information and communication of Disabled Women In Development (DIWODE); Coordinator for Community Water and Sanitation Policy monitoring, evaluation and advocacy in Makindye Division under Uganda Domestic Sanitation Services (UGADOSS), General volunteer for To Love Children (TLC) organization; etc.
Robert has participated in a number of International training programs and workshops such as: Three-months Global Educational program in Japan under World Campus International-Japan; two-days training workshop in Information and Communication Infrastructures for Rural areas in Africa under UNIDO Nairobi-Kenya; five-days training workshop in Information Production with satellite receivers in Accra-Ghana ; one-day Seminar on Challenging Impunity of Sexual Violence by A.C.O.R.D ; penal leader of Refugee Life and Internally Displaced People during the International conference of Humanitarian Studies in Netherlands, Presented a poster on Commercial Algae farming for Bio-diesel production and environment conservation in rural Africa, among others
Robert is a member of the following networks: International Humanitarian Studies Association, International Criminal Court Coalition, Justice Makers network, Peace and Collaborative Development Networking
Lastly, Robert is interested in Rural communities development and empowerment, human rights, reading and writing, sustainable development, technology, alternative technologies, making friends, and God
Through another organization or company
Peace and Collaborative Development Network www.Peace and Collaborative Development Network
Legal education and awareness.
The project will increase Policy advocacy to property rights or security of tenure through community organized dialogues with the concerned parties aiming at defining these policies in local languages that the majority understand. By doing this, community people will be able to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these policies.
The project will extend free basic Legal education to public