BRAC UNIVERSITY

I n s p i r i n g E x c e l l e n c e

Centre for Peace and Justice BRAC University

erment “Legal Empow alism” Through Paraleg

Annual Report 2017 February 2017 - March 2018

Our Vision & Mission

“Promoting global peace and social justice through education, training, research and advocacy for a just, peaceful and inclusive society.”

Objectives for 2017 ! To conduct national level training on paralegalism in South Asia ! To launch the basic training module for paralegals in ! To enhance the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitude of paralegals

Law Appreciation course held on 23-28 July, 2017, BRAC learning Centre, Uttara

“I would like to work as a paralegal in my area as well as to provide the right information to the community.” Quote from Nagorik Uddyog paralegal

“I worked as a paralegal for four years but did not have a minimum level of knowledge about paralegalism. Now I realise how prestigious a profession I was working in.” Quote from BNWLA paralegal

01 Message from Executive Director Manzoor Hasan, OBE

The Centre for Peace and Justice of BRAC University is delighted to publish our first annual report for 2017. “Social Empowerment Through Paralegalism” was the thematic focus of the year. We have developed and published a cutting-edge training manual on Basic Training for Paralegal and have trained paralegals in Bangladesh. The manual was launched at the Asian Leadership Colloquium on Legal Empowerment and Access to Justice, in Bangkok in December 2017. CPJ also organized training for trainers in Nepal and in India. During the year 2017, CPJ began the process of developing short courses on social justice issues, and a research program about peace and justice issues. CPJ put together a 5-year strategy with the theme of “Creating Knowledge for Social Empowerment” for 2018-2022, which will guide us towards our mission. I am excited by the agenda, and together with the CPJ team, looking forward to presenting the results in the coming months!

02 Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank the organizations who have been part of our journey towards social empowerment through paralegalism. Their support and cooperation helped to develop a groundbreaking basic module for paralegal training. Our sincere thanks to: ! Open Society Foundation, Hungary ! Open Society Justice Initiative, Hungary ! Ain o Salish Kendro, Bangladesh ! Madaripur Legal Aid Association, Bangladesh ! Bangladesh Legal Aid and Service Trust Bangladesh ! Move Foundation, Bangladesh ! Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, Bangladesh ! Nagorik Uddyog, Bangladesh ! Friendship, Bangladesh ! Council of Minorities, Bangladesh ! Centre for Social Justice, Ahmedabad, India ! Alliance for Social Dialogue, Nepal ! Lawyer's National Campaign for Elimination of Caste Discrimination, Nepal ! University, Bangladesh ! North South University, Bangladesh ! National Law University, Odisha, India ! Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

03 Executive Summary

CPJ developed a ground-breaking module on Basic Training for Paralegal, after a series of workshops and consultation with Steering Group members. Since its inception in March 2017, CPJ has rolled out paralegal training in Bangladesh, organized a training of trainers for master trainers in Nepal and India. The basic paralegal module was piloted with 24 participants from the Council of Minorities and MOVE Foundation. Four Basic Paralegal Training were organized and delivered in collaboration with Friendship, Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association and Nagorik Uddyog to 95 paralegals. A law appreciation course conducted with youth and students from various parts of the country to test the feasibility of the module and the underneath objective was to create a pool of volunteers at community level in Bangladesh. In total, CPJ trained 213 individuals, of which 45 percent were female.

The Centre in close collaboration with Open Society Justice Initiative organized a three-day path-breaking 'Asian Leadership Colloquium on legal Empowerment and Access to Justice' in December 2017 in Bangkok, Thailand. Forty leaders from all over the world attended the colloquium where the centre formally launched the Basic paralegal Training Module. The colloquium brought together a wealth of knowledge and experience from a broad spectrum of legal empowerment practitioners.

There was a notable change in the human rights knowledge and understanding among the community of paralegals who received basic training and most of the participants develop a sense of awareness in human rights laws and now consider themselves as Human Rights Activists. For example, Friendship Community Paralegals can advise communities about the different phases of legal proceedings. They can also effectively guide communities regarding situations where they need to file General Diary or First Information Report.

Community paralegals are now aware of Government Legal Aid Act and the relevant procedures and can convey to the community members that they can get free legal support from the district legal aid community. Friendship Community Paralegals have assisted the communities to get free legal support in at least 5 cases this year.

04 Basic Paralegal Training Program held on 14-19 May 2017, BRAC Learning Centre, Barishal

In 2017 CPJ also met with academician and researchers from national and International organizations to explore research on peace and justice issues and develope short courses on social justice.

About CPJ

The Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ) was established in March 2017 with the approval of the BRAC University Board of Trustees. It is BRAC University's exciting new addition to the family of postgraduate institutes! The mission of the Centre is to promote global peace and social justice through the means of education, training, research and advocacy with the vision of a just, peaceful and inclusive society.

CPJ is committed to identifying and promoting sustainable and inclusive solutions to a wide range of global concerns, including fragility, conflict and violence. CPJ has vast experience in the formal legal sector and in non-formal legal sector. Since its inception, CPJ developed a broad network of legal aid and legal empowerment organizations and academic institutions in Bangladesh and in other South Asian countries.

05 Our focus areas

! Promote and support quality multi-disciplinary education to create human capital that promotes and sustains peace and social justice; ! Undertake research on peace, fragility, violence and social justice in order to generate knowledge and empirical evidence; ! Offer multi-level training and workshop to build capacities of practitioners, academics/academician, researchers and trainers; and ! Advocate reform with relevant stakeholders in key peace and social justice arenas.

Our Team

From left to right: Zia Uddin, Research Assistant; Caroline Brassard PhD, Academic Adviser; Shahariar Sadat, Academic Coordinator; Manzoor Hasan OBE, Executive Director; Nilufa Sultana Sheta, Program Coordinator; Muhammad Badiuzzaman, Research Coordinator.

06 Main Activities

1. In February 2017, CPJ conducted the field test of Basic Paralegal Training Module at BRAC Learning Centre, Madhupur in collaboration with Council of Minorities and Move Foundation.

2. The first Basic Training for Paralegals Field test training held on 5-9 February was conducted by CPJ in collaboration 2017 at BRAC Learning Centre, Madhupur. with Friendship, from 18th to 23rd of March 2017 at Friendship Training Centre, Gaibandha. Twenty-four paralegal attended this training.

3. CPJ, in collaboration with the Centre for Social Justice, based in Ahmedabad, India, organized two National Training of Trainer for Capacity th Basic Training for paralegal programme Building of Paralegals from 6th to 9 held on 18-23 March 2017 at Friendship March in Ahmedabad, and in Gujarat Centre, Gaibandha. from 28th to 31st March 2017, at the National Law University, Odisha, India. In collaboration with Alliance for Social Dialogue, Lawyers National Campaign for the Elimination of Caste Discrimination, Centre for Social Justice and Open Society Foundation the Centre organized another national ToT for paralegals at Pokhara, Nepal, from 17th to 24th March 2017.

ToT for master trainers programme held on 28-31 March 2017 at the National Law University, Odisha, India

07 4. The Second Basic Training for Paralegals was conducted by CPJ from 22nd to 27th April 2017 at BRAC Learning Centre, Rangpur where twenty-three participants from Bangladesh National Lawyer Association (BNWLA) attended this training. Basic Training for Paralegal held on 22-27 5. The third Basic Training for April 2017 at BLC-Rangpur. Paralegals was conducted by CPJ in collaboration with Nagorik Uddyog from 14th to 19th May 2017 at BRAC Learning Centre, Barisal. Twenty-three paralegals participated in this training.

6. The fourth Basic Training for Paralegals was organized in collaboration with Friendship from 9th to 14th of July 2017 at Friendship Training Centre, Gaibandha. Twenty-four paralegals attended this training.

7. The first Legal Appreciation Course for Youth was conducted by CPJ at BRAC Learning Centre, Uttara, Dhaka held from 23rd to 28th July 2017. Twenty-three students and young community leaders participated in the course. The course made use of CPJ's recently developed Basic Training Module for Paralegals.

8. A Need Assessment Workshop on Advanced Training Manual for Paralegals was held from 19-20 July 2017 at BRAC Centre Inn, Dhaka. The workshop was organized by CPJ with support from the Open Society Foundation. Eight participants from the Basic Paralegal Training Courses and management representatives of Advance Module need assessment workshop held on 19-20 July, 2017 at leading legal aid organizations of BRAC Centre Inn, Dhaka Bangladesh participated in the workshop. The workshop brought out a draft outline of content for the advanced training manual for paralegal.

08 9. The 4thSteering Group Meeting on Paralegalism in Bangladesh was held at BRAC Centre Inn, Dhaka on 19th July 2017. Manzoor Hasan, Executive Director, CPJ, moderated the meeting while 23 representatives from leading legal aid organizations of Bangladesh, including 8 paralegals were present/ after. The Steering Group approved a ToR to promote paralegalism in Bangladesh through policy advocacy, Steering Group meeting held on 19 July standardization of paralegal training 2017 at BRAC Centre Inn, Dhaka. and sharing of information and good practices among the legal aid organizations.

10. Representative from the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO), based in Turin, Italy visited CPJ on 17 July 2017. Andreas Klemmer, Director of Training and Jeannette Shalabi, Chief, Partnership and Program Development Services of ITCILO led the delegation. Saloman Rajbanshi, Workplace Cooperation Technical Specialist, and Uttam Kumar Das, Program Officer from ILO Bangladesh also accompanied the delegation. The purpose of the visit was to explore future collaboration between ITCILO and CPJ, BRAC University. As a follow up of this meeting CPJ has submitted a proposal to ILO for a Paralegal Certification Course for the trade Unions and the proposal is under consideration.

11. CPJ put together a 5-year strategy 2018 - 2022, along with SMART plan for 2018 to unfold its academic, training and research activities on emerging issues in the areas of peace and justice.

12. CPJ hosted a six members group of students from National University of Singapore (NUS) to conduct a Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) on the implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. During this exercise CPJ facilitated collection of relevant literatures and documents, organise interviews with key informants and meetings with youths including indigenous students and visits of student researchers from NUS in Bangladesh. Finally, a report titled “Twenty Years of Peace Building in the Chittagong Hill Tracts: An Ethno-National Analysis” was prepared and submitted to CPJ.

09 Research Program

To identify broad themes and develop strategy for CPJ's research activities, a series of brainstorming sessions and consultation meetings held with academics, researchers and practitioners. Three broad themes namely, Peace and Fragility; Social Justice; Open Society were identified as CPJ's primary area of interest for future research planning and implementation. CPJ came to a consensus to follow multi-disciplinary strategy in conducting research on the following themes to enhance knowledge of peace and justice through a global network.

Peace and Fragility Social Justice Open Society Peace-building; ethnic, Access to justice, Human rights, political, social and cultural paralegalism, legal democratization, responsive conflict; fragility mapping; empowerment, grassroots government, tolerance, displacements; radicalisation; engagement, climate secularism, diversity, cultural truth and reconciliation; justice, redressing pluralism, humanitarianism securitisation; and violent inequalities, combatting and freedom of speech and and non-violent extremism poverty and discrimination press

Academic Program

In September 2017, the Centre for Peace and Justice organized Focus Group Discussions (FGD) on short courses related to social justice, peace, fragility and democratization. Two FGD were organized, the first was with academicians of different institutions in Dhaka and the second with practitioners and representatives from national FGD held on 28 September 2017 at BRAC Centre Inn, and international organizations. Dhaka Dr. Caroline Brassard, from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (National University of Singapore) facilitated the discussion on behalf of CPJ.

10 Capacity building of the CPJ team

Shahariar Sadat, Academic Coordinator, CPJ, participated in the training on International Labour Standards and Labour Legislation by ITCILO in Dhaka from 14th to 16th April 2017

Zia Uddin, Research Assistant, CPJ participated in the Women Peace and Security Course (WPSC)-5 conducted by Bangladesh Institute Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT) from 21st to 25th May 2017 at Razendrapur Cantonment, Dhaka.

Shahariar Sadat, Academic Coordinator, CPJ, participated in the International Humanitarian Law Course, jointly organized by Bangladesh Institute Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT) and ICRC from 2nd to 6th July 2017 at Razendrapur Cantonment, Dhaka.

Shahariar Sadat, Academic Coordinator, CPJ, participated in the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Course-3 from 30th July to 10th August 2017 organized by Bangladesh Institute Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT) at Rajendrapur Cantonment, Dhaka.

Nilufa Sultana Sheta, Program Coordinator, CPJ, attended the training on Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) Course-2 from 20th to 24th August 2017 at Bangladesh Institute Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT), Rajendrapur Cantonment, Dhaka.

Shahariar Sadat, Academic Coordinator, CPJ, began a Masters in Industrial and employment Relations at ITCILO under university of Turin, Italy. He was awarded 30% scholarship (highest in the programme). The distance learning phase covered from 10 October 2017 to 16 January 2018. He attended the residential phase in Turin from 21 January to 6 April 2018.

11 Events Attended by CPJ Team

Manzoor Hasan participated in the 'Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) Conference 2017' held on 17th of April 2017 at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS). CPJ was one of the PAE clients along with Citi Foundation, Microsoft, Cambodian Institute of Cooperation and Peace, Beyond Social Service, Unicef Global Innovation Centre, Nahdaltul Ulama, Department of Social Welfare and Development and World Bank Group.

Manzoor Hasan, Executive Director, CPJ, attended the 'UNCAC IRG Briefing for NGOs' on 22 June and the UN Convention against Corruption Coalition Coordination Committee Meeting on 23 June in Vienna, Austria, as the Chair of UNCAC Coalition.

Manzoor Hasan moderated a dialogue on “The importance and significance of the forthcoming General Elections in Bangladesh” held on 3rd of July 2017, which was jointly organized by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) and International Republican Institute (IRI). Shahariar Sadat, Academic Coordinator and Zia Uddin, Research Assistant of CPJ attended the Seminar on 'Violence Against Women and Children in Armed Conflict – Role of UN Operations' held at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT) on 24 July 2017. Manzoor Hasan, Executive Director, CPJ, attended the 'Continental Conference on Collaboration between the Judiciary and Community Justice Institutions' held in Kigali, Rwanda from 22nd to 24th August 2017. He also visited some of the projects of Action Aid International Rwanda as the Chairperson of Action Aid International Bangladesh. Continental Conference on Collaboration between the Judiciary and Community Shahariar Sadat attended the International Justice Institution, Kigali, Rwanda conference on ''Rethinking Socially Relevant Legal Education: Best Practices and Way Forward'' on 16-17 September 2017, organized by National Law University, Odisha, India.

Manzoor Hasan and Shahariar Sadat attended the 6th Asian Pro Bono Conference held from 30th September to 2nd October 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

12 Events Organized by CPJ Team

CPJ, in collaboration with the Open Society Justice Initiative organized the ground breaking Asian Leadership Colloquium on Legal Empowerment and Access to Justice in Bangkok from 13th to 15th December 2017. Leading legal empowerment and justice practitioners from around the world explored how to create a sense of mutual responsibility for making the law work for everyone. The colloquium was divided into three parts: successes and challenges; innovation and sustainability; and way forward, a 3-year strategy.

The three-day event was inaugurated by Manzoor Hasan and was facilitated by Hector Soliman, a public interest lawyer. Forty leaders from all over the world attended the colloquium.

Asian Leadership Colloquium held on 13-15 December 2017 at Bangkok, Thailand.

Launching of the Basic Paralegal Training Module

CPJ initiated a collaborative process with some leading legal aid & empowerment organisations in Bangladesh in order to develop a comprehensive training module for paralegals. The module was formally launched at the Asian Leadership Colloquium. Asian Leadership Colloquium held on 13-15 December 2017 at Bangkok, Thailand

13 Outreach

All most all activities done in 2017 played significant role to acknowledged CPJ in the arena of legal empowerment and access to justice. Starting from groundbreaking paralegal module development, paralegal training, meetings, workshops and organizing the Asian Leadership Colloquium in December 2017, CPJ has been recognized globally.

Manzoor Hasan visited the UK to explore post-graduate studies and research collaboration with institutions, such as, the London School of Economics and Birmingham University. Mr. Hasan also attended meetings with the Open Society Foundation in London and Budapest.

CPJ Met with Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

CPJ team met with BRAC Founder and Chair, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG and Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb, Ph.D. Vice Chancellor of BRAC University. The team provided an update of CPJ work and presented the Basic Module for paralegal training.

3 January 2018 at BRAC Centre, from left to right: Nilufa Sultana Sheta, Program Coordinator; Shahariar Sadat, Academic Coordinator; Manzoor Hasan OBE, Executive Director; Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG, Founder and Chair, BRAC, Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb, Ph.D. VC BRACU, Zia Uddin, Research Assistant;

14 Publications

CPJ is delighted to have successfully achieved a cornerstone in promoting paralegalism through the development and publication of the first comprehensive Basic Module for paralegal training in Bangladesh. This tailor-made module was developed through a working group from the steering committee. Four trainers from 4 organizations were selected for module and materials development work. The module covers a 6-day (72 hours) residential training program for paralegal.

Shahariar Sadat, Academic Coordinator, published an Op-ed on “What ride-sharing apps can teach us about accountability” in Dhaka Tribune on 30 January 2018.

Shahariar Sadat, Academic Coordinator published an Op-ed on “What Bangladesh can learn from March for Our Lives” in Dhaka Tribune on 26 March 2018.

Plans for 2018

The activities in CPJ's 'SMART' annual plan are grouped under training, academic teaching, research, publication and outreach, each supporting the strategic goals laid out in the five-year strategic plan of 2018-2022.

Training Our strategic goals for training in 2018 are: 1) Scale-up paralegal training activities in Bangladesh; 2) Innovate new mode of implementation of paralegal training; 3) Develop new financing models through proactively seeking partnership; and 4) Moving towards advanced paralegal training. Activities for the training program include: ! Follow-up and monitoring of training implemented in 2017 ! Organize paralegal training at grassroots level organizations

15 ! Explore and communicate with organizations for paralegal basic training ! Capacity building of community radio volunteers as a new mode of implementation ! Hold meetings with strategic donors (e.g., GIZ, DFID, SWISS Connect) towards sustainable forms of financing ! Initiate and conduct impact study of paralegal training conducted in 2017 ! Provide technical assistance on developing paralegal training module through the colloquium network

Academic Our strategic goals for academic teaching in 2018 are: 1) Build capacity on pedagogy skills for CPJ and our affiliates for peace and justice studies; 2) Introduce three short courses on peace and justice studies; 3) Develop innovative teaching material for peace and justice studies; and 4) Establish the foundations for a post-graduate degree in peace and justice centre/Rept. Activities related to academic teaching include: ! Commission a market survey for short courses ! Conduct in-house pedagogy training for CPJ and affiliates ! Preparatory works for developing certificate course for paralegals ! Promote and launch short courses on social inclusivity and research methods for Peace and Justice studies ! Prepare a concept note for a Post-Graduate Degree in Peace and Justice

Multi-disciplinary Research on Inclusive Society Our strategic goals for research in 2018 are: 1) Building research networks with academic and research institutes in Bangladesh and abroad; 2) Capacity development on research skills for CPJ and our affiliates for peace and justice studies; 3) Develop a platform for empirical evidence and databases on peace and justice; and 4) Reaching broader audience with research findings. The activities supporting our research programme include: ! Conducting impact assessment of paralegal training held in 2017 with leading legal aid organization

16 ! Conducting market research on the demand for various courses to be offered by CPJ ! Conducting research on The Rights and Protections of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2013 for BRAC Advocacy for Social Change. ! Working on an edited volume on Social Justice, Empowerment and Inclusivity in Asia to be published in 2019 ! Conducting short course on Research Methods for Peace and Justice Work ! Developing project proposal and explore funding opportunity in the field of peace and fragility; social justice and open society. ! Organising Research Strategy Workshop on Legal Empowerment and Access to Justice to be held in Bangkok ! Organising conference, seminar, public lecture, workshops and dialogues on peace and justice related themes ! Developing joint research collaboration with national and international institutions

Publications In 2018, CPJ plans to publish an edited volume on Social Justice, Empowerment and Inclusivity in Asia from an internationally reputed publishers. This volume will be edited by Dr. Caroline Brassard, Academic Advisor and Muhammad Badiuzzaman, Research Coordinator of CPJ. Academics, researchers and practitioners working around Asia were invited to contribute in the edited volume. A peer review process will be followed and the finally selected papers in the edited volume will be published in 2019. In addition, we plan to publish articles in peer reviewed journal, chapters in edited volume, working papers, policy briefs and opeds. The Centre will also periodically upload working papers on its website including reports and teaching case studies. In addition, we plan to write short articles, opinion pieces and summary of research as part of blogs and relevant websites.

Networking, Partnerships and Outreach CPJ seeks to expand and strengthen its international network in the form of teaching and research partnerships, as well as its network with Universities in Asia. As part of

17 this effort, CPJ will be organising several academic and networking events, as well as attending international events relevant to Peace and Justice Studies. Some of the upcoming events are: ! International Conference on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis, 2-3 April, 2018, Dhaka, co-organised with Centre for Genocide Studies of Dhaka University and ActionAid Bangladesh. ! Organising Research Strategy Workshop on Legal Empowerment and Access to Justice in Asia 11-13 July, 2018 in Bangkok. ! International Conference on the Gender Perspectives on Social Justice and Public Policy in Asia, 11-12 January 2019, Delhi, India, co-organised with UGC- Human Resource Development Centre, Kumaun University Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. ! Policy Analysis Exercise Conference, 25 April 2018, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore ! International conference on Reimagining Justice: Realizing Human Rights through Legal Empowerment, April 26-27, 2018 hosted by NYU School of Law's Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, New York, USA. ! 7th Asian Pro Bono Conference, 25-27 October 2018, Hong Kong, China

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Centre for Peace and Justice

Contact us Follow us UB 07, Level 9, BRAC University www.cpj.bracu.ac.bd 43 Mohakhali C/A, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh /cpj.bracu (+88) 09617445171 /cpj_bracu [email protected]