Webinar

The Afro-Asia Association for Justice Development (AAAJD) > Webinar

    TOPIC: Inclusive Development and Rights: challenges and opportunities thrown up by  Covid-19
    DATE: 11th JUNE 2020
    TIME: GMT 10am (WAT: 11am; SA: 12pm; EAT 1pm; IST: 3:30pm)
    Registration: https://aaajd.org/webinar-registration/

    Covid-19 has seen widespread violations of rights, including the right to life as also civic and economic rights. The people on the margins have borne the brunt of the pandemic. The impoverishing of the poor and exacerbation of inequalities has raised questions about welfare provisioning and public service distribution to deal with the pandemic. Struggles for more inclusive development are occurring at various levels. When looking at the different redistributive measures of states, significant variation can be seen in their capacities to reduce inequalities and have inclusive systems. As we move towards opening societies battered from the pandemic and getting the wheel of economic development spinning again, it is important to deliberate on how inclusive systems and processes can be built for development of poor and vulnerable.

    In this context, it is important to discuss how citizens / groups connect to the state and its various entities. While political representation can be a determinant for channeling demands for inclusive systems and creating structures for inclusive development, it is also important to deliberate beyond formal processes and elected representatives, by also looking at pressure-groups and informal community-based, local systems and process. This is important for having inclusive policies for justice and development. It will involve both, an understanding of the systems and processes that exacerbate vulnerabilities, and what can create opportunities for inclusive development.

    OBJECTIVES OF THE DISCUSSION:

        1. Discuss the experiences and lessons learnt in welfare provisioning and public service delivery to the vulnerable in the face of the COVID pandemic.
        2. Debate the challenges associated with access and delivery of social security schemes.
        3. Share alternative strategies and mechanisms that have emerged to reach out and include the poor in relief and sustenance measures.
        4. Share the local communities’ efforts to safeguard and evolve survival processes.
        5. Recommendations for people-centered, community-based strategies, built on local understanding and consultations, as a core pillar for inclusive development.

    MODERATOR: Prof Madhushree Sekher, Chairperson International Relations Office and Professor Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai (India)

    PANELISTS

      • India: Dr Shailesh Kumar Darokar, Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies, TISS
      • Kenya: Ms.Ruth Getobai who is a Regional Coordinator with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights
      • South Africa: Amanda Rinquest is a National Education and Training Manager at Black Sash, South Africa. She is also an attorney of the High Court and a human rights activist.
      • Zambia: Dr John Bwalya, Director, Dag Hammarskjold Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
      • Nigeria:Mr. Jake Epelle, Executive Director, Albino Foundation

    TOPIC: Access To Justice For The Poor And The Vulnerable In The Midst Of A Pandemic
    DATE: 4th June 2020
    TIME: GMT: 10am (WAT: 11am; SA: 12pm; EAT 1pm; IST: 3:30pm)
    Registration: https://aaajd.org/webinar-registration/

    ‘’Inequality of outcome among today’s generation is the source of unfair advantage received by the next generation. If we are concerned about inequality of opportunity tomorrow, we need to be concerned about inequality of outcome today’’- Tony Atkinson. The COVID-19 crisis is causing large-scale loss of life and severe human suffering globally. It has also generated a major economic, social and political crisis, which touches every aspect of people’s lives. The pandemic and the measures designed to contain it compound the negative impact on living standards. The pandemic is impoverishing the poor and exacerbating inequality. Informal workers are severely affected by the lockdown measures. Low skill workers are not able to work from home. The poor and the vulnerable, especially those living in extreme poverty are being hit the hardest, not only in terms of lost incomes, but in terms of how their life conditions and future are threatened by this whole situation. As the virus spreads from more affluent areas where it arrived first, it affects populations that live in poorer sanitary conditions, and suffer from multiple deprivations, which are magnified due to lockdown.  In most countries, violence has been used by security forces to contain persons in the designated lockdown areas. The use of force has been disproportionately meted out against the poor and the vulnerable. Most victims do not have the resources to engage the services of an advocate and rely on legal aid institutions.  Further, in light of the pandemic most Judiciaries are not operating at maximum efficiency and have put in place measures to limit people engagement with the court. The pandemic has also brought to the fore the fact that some countries have week National Legal Aid institutions therefore jolting civil society organizations to fill the glaring gap. These are just but a few weaknesses within the criminal justice service that the pandemic has highlighted.

    The pathway for recovery must therefore integrate accessible and people-centred justice systems as a core pillar, as legal and justice services play a major role in restoring economies, social cohesion and confidence in institutions. There is a need for rapid and decisive action by governments in order to ensure that the most vulnerable people and economic agents have the necessary legal support and access to channels to address their legal problems.

    To this end, the AAAJD proposes to hold a webinar to enable an exchange of lessons learned and experiences in delivering legal and justice services to the most vulnerable in the face of a COVID-19 outbreak.

    OBJECTIVES OF THE MEETING

        1. Share and discuss current and potential future impacts of COVID-19 on access to justice and justice systems.
        2. Discuss ongoing and emerging challenges and highlight the needed support for the countries to help overcome them.
        3. Interrogate the criminal justice system response to vulnerable justice seekers needs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
        4. Exchange concrete experiences in addressing the implications of the crisis and reflect on the implications for enabling people-centered approaches and maintaining access to justice for all persons particularly those most vulnerable.

    Moderator: Julie Wayua Matheka – Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya)

    Speakers:

      1. Ms. Angela Uwandu, is the Head of Office of Avocats Sans Frontières France in Nigeria. She is a criminal justice reform expert who leads a team of pro bono lawyers in providing Human Rights trainings and access to justice for persons facing the death penalty, victims of torture, extra judicial killings and arbitrary detention in Nigeria on the platform of the SAFE project.
      2. Buhle Booi, Political organizer at Ndifuna Ukwazi. Buhle Booi was organizing in poorer communities during the Covid-19 lockdown when the marginalized communities were evicted by the City of Cape Town Metro Municipality.
      3. Professor Irudaya Rajan, Director, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum India .
      4. Abdul Noormohamed– Executive Director, ICJ Kenya

    Topic: Innovative Technologies Deployed For Monitoring The Conduct of Security Agencies During The Pandemic
    Date: 28th May, 2020
    Time: GMT 10am (WAT 11am, SA: 12pm, EAT 1PM, IST 3:30PM)
    Registration: https://aaajd.org/webinar-registration/
    Video Recording from the Webinar: https://aaajd.org/videos/

    The continued highhandedness and abuse of police powers by law enforcement and security agents in attempts to enforce state COVID-19 directives resulting in violations of citizens’ rights and fundamental freedoms remains a serious problem in various countries’ efforts to curtail the spread of the disease the world over.

    Policing and human rights experts have called for strong oversight and accountability institutions to check the continued human rights violations and hold to account law enforcement and security agents that are found culpable of such violations. Civil Society Organizations have also been called to play a critical role in ensuring accountability of law enforcement and security agents as they enforce these COVID -19 directives by ensuring systematic documentation of such rights violations and working closely with the oversight and accountability institutions to ensure they are investigated and appropriate actions taken where necessary.

    As part of efforts to contribute to ensuring accountability and promoting rights-based approach to policing in such emergency situations as the pandemic, Civil Society Organizations have devised innovative strategies using technology to monitor the conduct and activities of law enforcement and security agents on COVID-19 duties.

    The Afro-Asia Alliance invites you to our next discussion on Innovative technologies deployed for monitoring the conduct of security agencies during the Pandemic. We will discuss various technological innovations that are being deployed to monitor conduct and activities of law enforcement and security agencies in selected countries in Africa and Asia during the COVID-19 pandemic, how are information sourced via these channels verified, processed, managed and fed into the activities or responses of oversight institutions for relevant action and lastly in general, what are the pros and cons in using such technological innovations to promote police accountability.

    Moderator: Blessing Abiri-Program Advisor-CLEEN Foundation

    Speakers:

      1. Ghalib Galant Deputy National Coordinator Right to Know, South Africa
      2. Moses Okinyi Communications Officer – ICJ Kenya and Liason person- Missing Voices, Kenya
      3. Prof Arvind Tiwari Dean – School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance. Chairperson – Centre for Police Studies and Public Security, School of Law, Rights and Constitutional Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India.
      4. Gabriel Akinremi Senior Information Technology Officer, CLEEN Foundation, Nigeria
      5. Oluwole OJEWALE Assistant Program Manager (Research & Strategy Development) CLEEN Foundation, Nigeria.