MANYMANY ROADSROADS The Law Related Work of TOTO Ford Foundation Grantees Around the World JUSTICEJUSTICE THE FORD FOUNDATI ON MA N Y ROA D S TO JU S T I C E TH E LAW- REL AT E D WO R K O F FO R D FO U N DAT I O N GR A N T E E S ARO U N D T H E WO R L D MA N Y ROA D S TO JU S T I C E The Law-Related Work of Fo rd Foundation Grantees A round the Wo r l d M a ry McCly m o n t Stephen Golub E d i t o rs TH E FO R D FO U N DAT I O N Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Many roads to justice : the law-related work of Ford Foundation grantees around the world / Mary McClymont, Stephen Golub, editors. ISBN 0-916584-54-2 1. Ford Foundation. 2. Public interest law. 3. Human r i g h t s . I. McClymont, Mary (Mary E.) II. Golub, Stephen 1 9 5 5 – J Z 5 5 2 4 . M 3 6 2 0 0 0 3 2 3 — d c 2 1 9 9 - 0 8 8 9 0 5 572 February 2000 © 2000 by The Ford Foundation, all rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of A m e r i c a CO N T E N T S P re f a c e v i i A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s i x Introduction: A Guide to This Vo l u m e Stephen Golub & Mary McClymont 1 Pa r t 1 Case Studies 1 Battling Apartheid, Building a New South A f r i c a Stephen Golub 1 9 2 From Dictatorship to Democracy: Law and Social Change in the Andean Region and the Southern Cone of South A m e r i c a Hugo Frühling 5 5 3 Rights into Action: Public Interest Litigation in the United States Helen Hershkoff & David Hollander 8 9 4 From the Village to the University: Legal Activism in Bangladesh Stephen Golub 1 2 7 v v i CO N T E N T S 5 Contributing to Legal Reform in China A u b rey McCutcheon 1 5 9 6 Participatory Justice in the Philippines Stephen Golub 1 9 7 7 Eastern Europe: Funding Strategies for Public Interest Law in Transitional Societies A u b rey McCutcheon 2 3 3 Pa r t 2 Thematic P e r s p e c t i ve s 8 University Legal Aid Clinics: A Growing International Presence with Manifold Benefits A u b rey McCutcheon 2 6 7 9 Public Interest Litigation: An International Perspective Helen Hershkoff & A u b rey McCutcheon 2 8 3 1 0 Nonlawyers as Legal Resources for Their Communities Stephen Golub 2 9 7 11 Laying the Groundwork: Uses of Law-Related Research Michael Shifter & Priscilla Hayner 3 1 5 1 2 Weathering the Storm: NGOs Adapting to Major Political Tr a n s i t i o n s Michael Shifter 3 2 7 A c ro n y m s / A b b re v i a t i o n s 3 3 9 About the A u t h o r s 3 4 3 I n d e x 3 4 7 PR E FAC E Its role as an international funder exposes the Ford Foundation to activities that involve people from around the globe in many walks of life. From this vantage point, we are fortunate to witness a wide range of efforts to achieve justice and equity in vastly dif- ferent settings. Continually, we are inspired by the remarkable creativity and diversity of these activities—the varied ways groups are able to devise new strategies and adapt old ones to meet their goals. But we are equally impressed with the striking congruencies, often unplanned, that turn up between grantee proj- ects in places as different from each other as Peru and Poland. In one field of work, these patterns of diversity and symmetry run deep. Across the world, a variety of groups, some with Ford funding, are pursuing many roads toward the same end: using the law as an instrument to advance human rights and social justice. While the ideal of justice is still a distant landmark, nongovern- mental organizations have made real progress toward that goal. The evidence of such efforts is seen in the countless people whose lives have been changed—abused women in Bangladesh, racial minorities in Brazil, farmers in the Philippines, the homeless in Nigeria, and many others. This book attempts to convey some of the challenges that those wielding the law for social change purposes have faced and the successes they have achieved. By intention, it is more a stud- ied appreciation than a critical analysis of their efforts. We asked v i i v i i i PR E FAC E an international team of consultants to help us document and describe how various law-based strategies have worked in very d i fferent settings, to draw out connections between those eff o r t s , and to highlight some of the insights that emerge from grantees’ experiences in law-related work. We also asked them to help us learn more about the ways the Foundation has played a role in these efforts. Known as the Global Law Programs Learning Initiative (GLPLI), this effort is not definitive, but rather sugges- tive. Our goal is to contribute to more serious future reflection and, ultimately, more effective programs in this field. We hope that the insights emerging from our review of the work of Ford and its grantees will help strengthen Foundation programming, suggest grantmaking directions for the considera- tion of other donors, and provide some strategic insights and ideas for all those involved in using the law to build a more equitable world. M a ry McClymont Senior Dire c t o r Peace and Social Justice Program, The Ford Foundation AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S The GLPLI project, and this book, reflect a collective eff o r t . Many Ford Foundation grantee partners engaged in public interest law work generously shared their insights, experiences, and time, without which this book would simply not have been possible. Too numerous to list here, they are cited in the contributors’ l i s t s following the case studies, which are chapters in Part 1. At the core of GLPLI was a thirteen-member team. T h e authors (listed elsewhere in this volume) not only bear primary responsibility for their individual papers; they also reviewed each o t h e r’s drafts, posed questions, and formulated ideas that were considered by other members of the group. The collaborative process included meeting as a team and discussing virtually every facet of the project. Apart from the authors, the core team includ- ed several other individuals. Anthony Romero, the Foundation’s director of the Human Rights and International Cooperation unit, o ffered critical perspectives and suggestions that enriched and advanced team discussions. Editorial advisors Tom Lansner and Sara Bullard skillfully shepherded this text from inception to pro- duction. Daria Caliguire diligently performed key research tasks. Monica Ly n n ’s unfailing administrative support and editorial assistance were essential at all levels of the project. GLPLI benefited as well from current Ford Foundation staff , who shared useful information and valuable ideas at various stages of the project. Those staff members, who undertake law- i x x AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S related programming in offices around the world, included Akwasi Aidoo, Fateh Azzam, Aaron Back, Alice Brown, Phyllis Chang, David Chiel, Larry Cox, Mallika Dutt, Joseph Gitari, Irena Grudzinska Gross, Gary Hawes, Taryn Higashi, A l a n Jenkins, Mary McAuley, Helen Neuborne, Edward Te l l e s , Augusto Varas, and Alex Wilde. Ford program assistants Lori Mann and Hisham Elkoustaf, and senior communications advisor Thea Lurie, also provided useful contributions. Miriam A u k e r m a n gave helpful comments on the manuscript. A number of former Ford Foundation staff helpfully recount- ed their experiences as well. They are cited in or listed after the individual case studies in Part 1. Thanks to William Carmichael, Shepard Forman, Lynn Huntley, and Franklin Thomas, who pro- vided historical perspectives that benefited the entire project. Several other people played important roles in making this book a reality. GLPLI profited from the knowledge of several external specialists, who were asked to critically review some or all of the papers. Their frank appraisals substantially helped sharpen and improve the final product. The outside experts included José Zalaquett, Professor of Law, University of Chile; Terrence George, Chief Program Off i c e r, Consuelo Zobel A l g e r Foundation; and Rick Messick, Senior Public Sector Specialist and codirector of the World Bank’s Thematic Group in Legal Institutions. Of course, any inaccuracies in the text are the respon- sibility of the Ford Foundation alone. As vice president of the Foundation’s Peace and Social Justice program, Bradford Smith provided thoughtful guidance during the GLPLI process. And the project would not have been possible without Ford Foundation President Susan Berresford’s stimulus toward greater institutional learning, and her continuing commitment to public interest law work around the world. M a ry McClymont I n t ro d u c t i o n : A Guide to This Vo l u m e ST E P H E N GO L U B & MA RY MCCLY M O N T For more than forty years, the Ford Foundation has supported groups that use the law to secure human rights and improve the lives of people in vastly different settings around the world.