Partner Organizations
The Global Justice Center (GJC) partners with women's rights groups in transitional democracies and in conflict areas to enforce women's access to political power and to basic human rights. Since its inception, the GJC has worked, in particular, with the Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq (WAFDI) and the Women's League of Burma (WLB) to provide counsel and education in international law to women activists and leaders. GJC is proud to be a member of the NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security which advocates for the implementation of UN Security Counsel Resolution 1325. Consequently the GJC has played an important role in preparing activists in these countries to use international law as a means to heighten the involvement of women in government and seek justice for crimes committed against them.
Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq
NGO Working Group on Women, Peace, & Security
Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq
The Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq is an international non-partisan and non-profit women's rights organization dedicated to a free and democratic Iraq. WAFDI's vision of equality is grounded in the values of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, among other human rights statutes, and as such, WAFDI is committed to the advancement and empowerment of women in all areas of society. WAFDI believes that women are a fundamental component for sustainable peace and democracy in the new Iraq and continually advocates for full and equal rights for women in civil society.
Within Iraq, WAFDI encourages women to actively participate in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the country. WAFDI supports women's involvement in the fields of health, education, arts and literature, economic development, judiciary, information technology, politics, and engineering technology. WAFDI members are some of the most prominent women leaders in Iraq today, and WAFDI members hold six of the 70 seats held by women in Iraq's newly-formed parliament.
WAFDI provides venues for women's rights and activism, such as petitioning, appealing to government officials and public agencies, arranging media appearances, fostering awareness about the most important issues facing Iraqi women today, and collaborating with other groups in Iraq, the U.S, and around the world. WAFDI also organizes symposiums and training programs to keep its members both in and outside of Iraq involved in the Iraqi political process.
Internationally, WAFDI has spearheaded a range of projects, from fostering Iraqi cultural awareness and pride to encouraging political activism among its members. WAFDI facilitates critical and constructive dialogue between Iraqi women living both inside and outside of Iraq through its member list serve. WAFDI members have also participated in Women Waging Peace's Annual Policy Day, interactive programs at the Kennedy School, and in programs at the U.S. State Department. WAFDI members have played a critical role in the Network of Iraqi American Organizations' (NIAO) meetings and sessions, such as the July 2005 session on the new Iraqi constitution, which took place in Michigan and was broadcasted live to Baghdad.
WAFDI has sponsored several high level trainings on international law, human rights, and women's rights, including a training session in Baghdad conducted by Janet Benshoof in 2004. The focus of the training was to help ensure that women had a decision making role in drafting the new constitution. Partly as a result of this effort by WAFDI and a coalition of other organizations, the Iraqi constitution now includes gender provisions that meet with international quotas and standards. Women now represent 25% of the new Parliament in Iraq, a victory for women not only in that nation but also across the Middle East.
WAFDI membership is open to all qualified men and women who believe in equal rights and opportunities for all Iraqi women, regardless of color, ethnicity, or religion. WAFDI members live both in Iraq and around the globe.
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Women's League of Burma
The Women's League of Burma is an umbrella organization comprised of twelve women's rights groups in exile from Burma that are dedicated to women's empowerment, human rights and democracy. Their aim is to enable women's participation in all spheres of life and in particular, to facilitate women's involvement in the national movement for peace, democracy and reconciliation. The WLB incorporates women of many different ethnicities in order to foster mutual understanding and solidarity among all women in Burma. WLB has created a nexus between grassroots, regional and international organizations connecting the grassroots activism of its member groups to pertinent activist organizations such as the Global Justice Center, and to international resources such as the United Nations.
Within Burma, the WLB is working through community-based avenues to create an understanding of gender issues and women's rights within Burmese society. For instance, the WLB has organized a support campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Laureate and leader of the nonviolent movement for human rights and democracy in Burma, and has parcicipated in the 16 days of activism campaign against gender violence. The WLB has launched signature campaigns, such as the campaign that urges the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to reevaluate its 'constructive engagement' policy towards the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Burma's ruling military regime, through gaining over 42,000 signatures worldwide. The WLB has published books, reports and statements; including a statement issued in May 2006 calling on the United Nations Security Council to stop the attacks on civilians in Karen state, Burma. In January 2006, after a GJC training, members of the WLB constitutional study team successfully advocated for the inclusion of a 30% quota for women in the parallel Draft Constitution for a Democratic Burma, at a constitutional convention in Thailand.
Outside Burma, WLB representatives have participated in UN sessions and conferences, such as the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the 22nd Session of CEDAW. WLB representatives presented the Asia-Pacific NGO Forum statement of behalf of the Asia Pacific Caucus at the Beijing Plus Ten Commission on The Status of Women, where they highlighted the complex challenges still facing women in the Asia Pacific Region. The WLB has also organized international conferences such as one on sexuality and violence against women, held in Indonesia in 2004.
WLB membership includes organizations such as the Burmese Women's Union (BMW), Kachin Women's Association-Thailand (KWAT), Karen Women's Organization (KWO), Karenni National Women's Organization (KNOW), Kuki Women's Human Rights Organization (KWHRO), Lahu Women's Organization (LWO), Palaung Women's Organization (PWO), Pa-O Women's Union (PWU), Rakhaing Women's Union (RWU), Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), Tavoy Women's Union (TWU), and Women's Rights & Welfare Association of Burma (WRWAB).
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Burma Lawyers' Council
The Burma Lawyers' Council is an indepedent organization which was formed in a liberated area of Burma in 1994 by a number of individual lawyers and legal academics.
Mission Statement:
"By vigorously opposing all unjust and oppressive laws, and by helping restore the principle of the Rule of Law, the Burma Lawyers' Council aims to contribute to the transformation of Burma where all the citizens enjoy the equal protection of law under the democratic federal constitution which will guarantee fundamentals of human rights."
Objectives of the BLC
- Promote and assist in the educating, implementating, restoring, and improving basic human rights, democratic rights, and the rule of law in Burma.
- Assist in the drafting and implementating a constitution for Burma, and in associated matters of legal education; and
- Participate and cooperate in the emergence of a Civil Society in Burma.'
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NGO Working Group on Women, Peace, & Security
The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG) was formed in May 2000 to advocate for a United Nations Security Council resolution on women, peace and security. Following the unanimous adoption of SCR 1325 in October 2000, the group began the work of pressing for its full implementation. The NGO Working Group believes that a peaceful future depends on the full participation of women in all decision making to prevent violent conflict and to protect women and girls. A broad and positive impact on the lives of all people experiencing conflict will result from the full implementation of SCR 1325 and promotion of the Beijing Platform for Action and CEDAW. Adherence to SCR 1325 is a necessary tool for the prevention of armed conflict and for the inclusion of gender in the ongoing peace and security discourse taking place within the United Nations and the international community.
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Women's Link Worldwide
Women's Link Worldwide is an international organization promoting gender equality through legal avenues. It works to advance women's rights through the implementation of international human rights law, and the use of tribunals and strategic litigation. Women's Link has three main areas of thematic focus: sexual and reproductive rights, gender violence and gender discrimination.
As an on-line "observatory" of legal precedent and strategies for working with the judiciary in national and international courts, Women's Link is a resource for advocates and organizations dedicated to furthering women's rights. Women's Link also undertakes legal advocacy projects designed to promote human rights norms.
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Kurdish Women's Rights Watch
Kurdish Women's Rights Watch (KWRW) is a non-profit-making UK-based network organization that is dedicated to supporting and promoting women's rights in the Kurdish community, whether in Kurdistan or in the diaspora. KWRW grew out of Kurdish women's Action Against Honour Killings (KWAHK), with the aim of promoting the interests of Kurdish women both in relation to honour-based violence and in relation to human and civil rights in general.
KWRW's aims are to raise awareness of the human, social and civil rights of Kurdish women, to monitor violations of Kurdish women's right including domestic violence and honour-based violence, and to promote the health, education, and social well being of Kurdish women. To this end, KWRW is currently working on projects in counseling and support work with Anfal survivors, developing training courses for social workers and police in Kurdistan to help them become aware of gender issues, archiving cases of honor-based violence in Kurdistan, and sending observers to Kurdistan to attend the trials of those accused of honour crimes.
KWRW is also interested in helping women improve their employment and financial prospects through training, education, and development work, counseling and supporting women and families under stress, and monitoring abuses of women's rights through outlets such as media reports and trial observations.
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Corporacion Humanas
Corporacion Humanas is a women's rights organization in Colombia that focuses on gender justice and human rights, and is a member of the Women, Gender for Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Working Group.