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TRANSCRIPT
Legal Empowerment Leadership Course
Participants’ Booklet
4–8 December 2017 l Budapest, Hungary
Table
of
Conte
nts
1
Welcome .......................................................................... 2
THE COURSE ............................................................................ 4
Methodology ............................................................ 4
Schedule ................................................................. 8
Participants’ profi le ................................................. 10
Reading list ............................................................. 11
PROGRAM ................................................................................ 13
Arrival .......................................................................... 13
Welcome reception ........................................................ 14
Vivek’s public lecture ..................................................... 15
Farewell reception ......................................................... 15
LOGISTICAL INFORMATION ......................................................... 16
Course venue ........................................................... 16
Meals ..................................................................... 16
Eating out ..................................................................... 17
Smoking .................................................................. 18
Internet, WiFi and social media .................................. 18
Medical care ............................................................ 18
Weather and clothing ................................................ 18
Personal safety and security ....................................... 19
Q&A on Central European University (CEU) in the news . 20
A Note on Hungary ................................................... 22
Metro and suburban railway lines ............................... 23
Useful Hungarian phrases .......................................... 24
Course coordinators .................................................. 25
BIOGRAPHIES ........................................................................... 26
Course director ......................................................... 26
Faculty .................................................................... 27
Participants ............................................................. 30
CEU student participants .......................................... 55
Course staff ............................................................. 57
ORGANIZERS ............................................................................ 61
Open Society Justice Initiative ................................... 61
Namati .................................................................... 61
Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights,
NYU School of Law ................................................... 62
CEU School of Public Policy, Global Policy Academy .... 62
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Dear participants,
Around the world, more than four billion people are living outside the
protection of the law. They are unfairly driven from their land, denied
essential services, excluded from society, and intimidated by violence.
Legal empowerment is about turning that tide. It’s about enabling people
to understand, use, and shape the law. From at least the 1950s, when
community paralegals in South Africa began helping people to navigate
and resist apartheid, legal empowerment has grown into a global move-
ment. Today, grassroots legal advocates in the Philippines are helping
farmers to take part in nationwide agrarian reforms. In Argentina, shanty-
town residents are pursuing legal remedies to bring clean water and
other essential services to their communities.
World leaders increasingly agree that access to justice and legal em-
powerment are crucial to ensuring equitable and inclusive development,
a sentiment that led to the integration of justice in the UN Sustainable
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Development Goals. Every year the legal empowerment fi eld becomes
more robust, with greater evidence of what works. At this particular
moment in history, with the rise of authoritarianism and income inequali-
ty, there is an urgent need to strengthen and expand legal empowerment
programs.
The Legal Empowerment Leadership Course in Budapest is a unique
opportunity to take stock of our collective knowledge and build upon it.
Its aim is to cultivate a global cadre of leaders who are committed to
legal empowerment, and who share a common understanding of the fi eld,
including history, methodology, and evidence. A faculty of respected
practitioners and academics will lead course participants in an in-depth
exploration of key themes, including the history of the global movement
for legal empowerment, the intersection of legal empowerment and
community organizing, and the role of grassroots legal advocates in
realizing systemic change or ensuring effective service delivery. The
participatory course design will also emphasize peer-to-peer learning
through small group work.
This year’s course, the third annual, has a theme of “Law and Organizing.”
The course is a collaboration between the CEU’s School of Public Policy
(SPP), the Open Society Justice Initiative, Namati, and the Robert L.
Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at New York University School of Law.
WE WISH YOU AN EXCITING TIME IN BUDAPEST
AT THE CEU SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY!
Zaza Vivek Bernhard Sukti
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METHODOLOGY
The course is designed to help participants explore practical solutions to
concrete challenges that arise in their work. Problems identifi ed by partici-
pants at the outset will be workshopped with peers and faculty during a
series of interactive discussions, refl ective exercises, and breakout sessions.
Drawing from the comparative experiences of others, as well as from the
latest research, participants will come away with new ideas for improving
the effectiveness of their efforts. Major elements of the course include:
1 . PREPARATORY WORK
Participants will review selected readings in advance of the course
(see below). They will also prepare and submit one of the following:
a. a problem statement, describing a challenge area or inquiry
facing them in their work, or
b. a proposal for research or action that they wish to workshop
throughout the course.
2. IN-PERSON PARTICIPATION
The course requires in-person attendance at Central European
University over fi ve days, from 4 to 8 December 2017.
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3. PARTICIPATORY CURRICULUM
Each day will include three types of sessions: case studies, cross-
cutting sessions, and small working group discussions.
Case studies
The course will feature a comparative exploration of common
themes across three case studies, in addition to the overall
course theme of law and organizing. Themes include legal
empowerment methods; training, support, and supervision of
frontline staff; learning and evaluation; fi nancial sustainability;
gender; and pathways to scale. Case study topics include:
6 December 2017
The paralegal movement in the Philippines. How the movement of
community-based paralegals have adapted and innovated over
the decades, to bring about large-scale change in the Philippines.
7 December 2017
Institutionalizing community-based justice services. This session
focuses on how the community justice services can be recognized,
institutionalized, and publicly fi nanced by governments through a
case study from Ontario, Canada.
8 December 2017
Ensuring effective delivery of essential services. How a women-
led movement of grassroots advocates, lawyers, and activists is
enhancing accountability and advancing the rights of health,
food, and housing to marginalized communities in India.
Cross-cutting sessions
Cross-cutting sessions will address special challenges faced by
the movement for legal empowerment.
5 December 2017
Session I: Introduction to legal empowerment. This introductory
session will explore what we mean by legal empowerment. It will
address basic concepts, history and philosophy. The session will
offer a vocabulary and a set of questions that we will return to
throughout the course.
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5 December 2017
Session II: The intersection of law and organizing. This session will
explore how legal empowerment groups have combined strategic
litigation and legal services with community organizing.
6 December 2017
Session III: Translating grassroots experience into systemic change
and back again. This session will investigate the use of grassroots
experience from legal empowerment work towards advocacy and
long term systemic change.
7 December 2017
Session IV: Learning from program data. This session will look into
monitoring and evaluation techniques and innovative ways of
applying evaluation data to improve programming and research
efforts.
Small group work and independent refl ection
Each afternoon, participants and faculty will come together in
small groups to apply the day’s lessons to their challenge areas
or research inquiries. Depending on the session, participants will
gather in groups by challenge area, geographic region, thematic
focus, and more. They will engage in interactive exercises designed
to encourage meaningful peer-to-peer learning and networking.
4. CLINICS
We offer participants the opportunity to sign up for optional evening
“clinics” with session leaders. The purpose of these clinics is to give
you the opportunity to meet the expert session leaders in person.
You will have dedicated time in which to interrogate the issues you
are working on in your countries in more depth. Clinics should be
participant-led and, ideally, problem-focused: you should come
prepared with discussion points for a 10–15 minute session. A useful
approach could be to think about what you are working on at present
and how the experts’ inputs could help you to address the challenges
you face. Clinic slots are of 10–15 minutes in length each and are
offered on a fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. Sign-up sheets will be
available on the day on which the clinic takes place. Participants are
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asked to respect the time of the expert and their fellow participants
by arriving on time, being prepared and adhering to their time slot.
5. POST-COURSE
After the course, each participant will either submit their fi nal
refl ections on their problem statement, or a revised version of their
research proposal. In either case, candidates should detail a course
of action for acting on, or exploring further, what has been learned
over the last few days. All participants will also become members of
the Global Legal Empowerment Network in advance of the course and
we will remain in contact through our online community discussion
forum. There, you can pose questions and seek to support others
with their action plans so our cohort of learners stay engaged in the
future.
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SCH
EDU
LE Monday,
4 D
ecem
ber
Tuesd
ay,
5 D
ecem
ber
Wednesd
ay,
6 D
ecem
ber
Thurs
day,
7 D
ecem
ber
Frid
ay,
8 D
ecem
ber
09:0
0W
elc
om
e
Zaza
Nam
ora
dze
Revi
ew
& D
ay
2 A
ims
Viv
ek M
aru
Revi
ew
& D
ay
3 A
ims
Viv
ek M
aru
Revi
ew
& D
ay
4 A
ims
Viv
ek M
aru
09:1
5Ic
e b
reaker
Ice b
reaker
Ice b
reaker
Ice b
reaker
09:3
0Cours
e o
verv
iew
Viv
ek M
aru
09:4
5Sess
ion I
Intr
oducti
on t
o l
egal
em
pow
erm
ent
(9:4
5–10:4
5)
Viv
ek M
aru
Case
stu
dy
I:
The p
ara
legal m
ove
ment in
the P
hilip
pin
es
(9:4
5–1
0:4
5)
Marlon
J. M
an
uel
Case
stu
dy
II:
Inst
itutionalizi
ng c
om
munity-
base
d just
ice s
erv
ices
(9:4
5–1
0:4
5)
Mic
hele
Leerin
g
Case
stu
dy
III:
Ensu
ring e
ffective
deli
very
of ess
ential se
rvic
es
(9:4
5–1
0:4
5)
Su
kti D
hital
10:0
0
10:1
5
10:3
0
10:4
5C
off
ee B
reak
Coffee B
reak
Coffee B
reak
Coffee B
reak
11:0
0In
troducti
on t
o l
egal
em
pow
erm
ent
(continued)
(11:0
0–11:4
5)
Case
stu
dy
I
(con
tin
ued
)
(11
:00
–1
2:0
0)
Case
stu
dy
II
(con
tin
ued
)
(11
:00
–1
2:0
0)
Case
stu
dy
III
(con
tin
ued)
(11
:00
–1
2:0
0)
11:1
5
11:3
0
11:4
5
Lunch
(11:4
5–12:4
5)
12:0
0
Lu
nch
(12
:00
–1
3:0
0)
Lu
nch
(12
:00
–1
3:0
0)
Lu
nch
(12
:00
–1
3:0
0)
12:1
5
12:3
0
12:4
5Sess
ion I
I
The i
nte
rsecti
on o
f la
w
and o
rganiz
ing
(12:4
5–14:3
0)
Purv
i Shah
13:0
0S
ess
ion III
Transl
ating g
rass
roots
exp
eri
ence into
sys
tem
ic
change a
nd b
ack a
gain
(13
:00
–1
4:3
0)
Viv
ek M
aru
Sess
ion IV
Learn
ing fro
m p
rogra
m d
ata
(13
:00
–1
4:3
0)
Meg S
attert
hw
aite
Intr
o to the G
lobal
Legal
Em
pow
erm
ent
Netw
ork
(13
:00
–1
3:4
5)
13:1
5
13:3
0
13:4
5
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Monday,
4 D
ecem
ber
Tuesd
ay,
5 D
ecem
ber
Wednesd
ay,
6 D
ecem
ber
Thurs
day,
7 D
ecem
ber
Frid
ay,
8 D
ecem
ber
14:0
0
Pre
senta
tions
(13
:45
–1
4:4
5)
14:1
5
14:3
0C
off
ee B
reak
(14:3
0–14:4
5)
Coffee B
reak
(14
:30
–1
4:4
5)
Coffee B
reak
(14
:30
–1
4:4
5)
14:4
5
Work
ing g
roups
(14:4
5–16:4
5)
Work
ing g
roups
(14
:45
–1
6:4
5)
Work
ing g
roups
(14
:45
–1
6:4
5)
Coffee B
reak
(14
:45
–1
5:0
0)
15:0
0
Clo
sing a
nd e
valu
ati
on
(15
:00
–1
6:1
5)
15:1
5
15:3
0
15:4
5
16:0
0
16:1
5
Fare
well
drinks
at A
uru
m B
istr
o
16:3
0
16:4
5W
rap u
pW
rap u
pW
rap u
p17:0
0
17:1
5
17:3
0C
linic
s (v
olu
nta
ry)
Clin
ics
(volu
nta
ry)
17:4
5
18:0
0
18:1
5K
now
Law
, U
se L
aw
,
Shape L
aw
:
Legal E
mpow
erm
ent
and
a D
eeper
Vers
ion
of
Dem
ocra
cy
(18:1
5–20:0
0)
Public
talk
by
Viv
ek M
aru
in C
EU
’s N
15 A
uditorium
B
18:3
0
18:4
5
19:0
0
19:1
5
19:3
0W
elc
om
e r
ecep
tion o
n b
oat
19:4
5
20:0
0
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PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILE
The course is intended for people whose work and interests are directly
related to legal empowerment. Participants.
This includes:
• exceptional paralegals and leaders of civil society organizations who
are running, or wish to run, legal empowerment programs;
• parliamentary leaders and government offi cials (ministries of justice
or development, centralized planning units, NHRIs) with the power
to support or regulate legal empowerment efforts;
• development agency representatives working on legal empowerment
at an international or country level;
• academics and researchers interested in working with legal empower-
ment programs
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READING LIST
You have been given access to an e-learning site that contains all pre-
course readings. They will give us a common foundation; we will be
referencing them during the course.
Introduction to Legal Empowerment
Vivek MARU
• The comparative chapter of a forthcoming book, Community
Paralegals and the Pursuit of Justice, about paralegal move-
ments in six countries;
• an essay in Foreign Policy (“Only the Law Can Restrain Trump,”
by Vivek Maru), proposing four principles for overcoming the
challenge of delivering legal empowerment at scale.
The intersection of law and organizing
Purvi SHAH
• “A Volatile Alliance: The Marriage of Lawyers and Demonstrators,
1961–1964,” from the book Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the
Long History of the Civil Rights Movement, by T. Brown-Nagin.
The paralegal movement in the Philippines
Marlon MANUEL
• The updated chapter “Community-Based Paralegalism in the
Philip-pines: From Social Movements to Democratization,” by
J. Franco, H. Soliman and M. Roda Cisnero from a forthcoming
book (Cambridge University Press).
Learning from program data
Meg SATTERTHWAITE
• An article on “Learning about Women’s Empowerment in the
Context of Development Projects” (J. Carter et al.) that examines
how donor requirements for demonstrating evidence-based
results challenge project management in different ways and
how development practitioners can capture important changes
in women’s lives. Learning about women’s empowerment in the
context of development projects.
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• The article “Access to Justice: Evaluating the Law, Health and
Human Rights Programmes in Kenya” (by S. Gruskin et al.)
where integrating legal literacy and legal services into healthcare
appears to be an effective strategy to empower vulnerable groups
and address underlying determinants of health.
Institutionalizing community-based justice services
Michele LEERING
• “Delivering Community Justice Services at Scale: Ontario, Canada”
(by OSF), where each province is responsible for designing and
implementing its own legal aid scheme (mandatory reading);
• an article titled ‘The Critical Characteristics of Community Legal
Aid Clinics in Ontario’ (by L. Abramowicz), from the Journal on
Law and Social Policy (highly suggested reading);
• a case study by J. E. Mosher for the Ontario Legal Aid Review
titled “Poverty Law” (highly suggested reading).
Ensuring effective delivery of essential health services
Sukti DHITAL
• The article “In India, Women Are Using Their Phones To Tackle
Inequality” (by S. Sahariah) on training women who live in slums
to become paralegals. It profi les one of Nazdeek’s paralegals,
Pooja, who has been working to improve access to health and
nutrition in Bhim Nagar, New Delhi through a new Dalit women-
led SMS project;
• an article titled “Accountability in the delivery of maternal and
infant health services: Nazdeek’s approach to fi ghting maternal
and infant mortality,’” by F. Feruglio;
• an article on the risk of childbirth in India (by N. Kumar) about
Assam, which has the highest maternal mortality rate in India.
Pro
gra
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13
ARRIVAL
The taxi company serving Liszt
Ferenc International Airport is
Fotaxi. Reservations are made
in person outside the exit of the
terminal. The fare to the
city center will not exceed
8,000 HUF (25 EUR).
There is also an airport shuttle
which costs around 4,000 HUF
(13 EUR) to the city center. You
can order a shuttle to your hotel
at the Airport Shuttle stand at
Arrivals. The shuttle will probably
take slightly longer than a taxi as
it is shared with other people.
Central European University
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Pro
gra
m WELCOME RECEPTION
The course will be launched on Monday, 4 December, with a dinner
reception on Millenium 2 boat. The reception will start at 19:30.
DINNER VENUE:
Vigadó tér, 1052 Hungary
The boat will leave from
Kossuth Hajó/Vénhajó dock
from Vigadó tér.
Our staff will pick you up in front of the course venue (below) at 19:00 sharp.
MEETING POINT 7 PM: CEU School of Public Policy
Október 6 utca 7, 1051 Budapest
From the CEU School of Public Policy to Kossuth Hajó/Vénhajó
15
Pro
gra
mVIVEK’S PUBLIC LECTURE
The President and Rector
cordially invites you to
Know Law, Use Law, Shape Law:
Legal Empowerment and a Deeper Version of Democracy
A talk by Vivek Maru, CEO of Namati and World Economic Forum
Social Entrepreneur of the Year
DATE l Tuesday l December 5, 2017
TIME l 6:15–8 pm
PLACE l Nádor utca 15 l Auditorium B
WELCOME REMARKS l Michael Ignatieff, President and Rector, CEU
ABSTRACT l Through stories from India, Kenya, and the United States,
Vivek will describe how barefoot lawyers and communities are securing
environmental justice, citizenship, housing, and, ultimately, a voice in
the decisions that affect them.
FAREWELL RECEPTION
Following the end of the course you are invited to join us for drinks
and snacks at Aurum Bistro on Friday, 8 December, starting at 16:30.
Aurum is located just two minutes walking distance from SPP.
VENUE:
Aurum Bistro
Zrínyi utca 5
1051 Budapest
Tel: (+36) 30 491 6264
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COURSE VENUE
The course will take place
on the ground fl oor of CEU’s
School of Public Policy
in Október Hall.
Sessions will begin at 9:00 am;
please arrive at the CEU
School of Public Policy
at 8:45 am to register.
VENUE: School of Public Policy, Október Hall
Október 6 utca 7, H–1051 Budapest
MEALS
Coffee breaks and lunches will be served on the fi rst fl oor of the building
where the course takes place.
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EATING OUT
There are many places that are close to CEU/SPP where you can have
dinner. The list below is not exhaustive, so we encourage you to explore
the neighborhood. Restaurants marked with an * offer vegetarian dishes.
Burger and Love
Október 6. utca 6 l open 11:30–24:00
Hummus Bar*
Október 6. utca 19 l open 10:00 (12:00 on Sun & Sat)–22:00
Istanbul Kebab
Október 6. utca 22 l open 08:00–05:00
La Trattoria
Október 6. utca 13 l open 11:00–23:00
Padthai Wokbar*
Október 6. utca 4 l open 11:00–23:00
Rétesház (Strudel House)*
Október 6. utca 22 l open 9:00–23:00
Soup Culture*
Október 6. utca 19 l open 11:00-19:00, closed on Sundays
Vai Me! Georgian Restaurant*
Október 6. utca 8 l open 08:00–23:00
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SMOKING
Smoking is strictly prohibited within fi ve meters of all building entrances.
INTERNET, WiFi AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Wi-Fi is available on campus.
• Network name: CEU Guest
• Password: Budapest1991
European plugs (220V) are
available at CEU.
If you wish to tweet about the
workshop, please use the handle @sppgpa.
The hashtag is #legalempowerment.
MEDICAL CARE
The CEU Medical Center is open to participants with valid medical
insurance. There are two qualifi ed English-speaking doctors (male and
female) who hold regular
consultation hours.
CEU Medical Center
Nádor utca 11 Building, Courtyard
Tel.: (+36-1) 327-3815
WEATHER AND CLOTHING
December is one of the coldest months of the year in Budapest. During
this month, expect very cold weather conditions and a frosty biting
wind. Snowfall is frequent but not that heavy. The days are shortest and
the nights are longest at this time. The average daily temperature in
December is no more than 1°C. Except for the welcome reception (smart
casual), dress code for the course is casual.
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PERSONAL SAFETY AND SECURITY
Budapest is a safe city but as with other popular tourist destinations you
need to be vigilant. There are three risks that we want to alert you to:
• Do not hail a cab on the street; call a cab. A reliable company is
CITY TAXI, at +36 1 211 1111. Make sure the meter is set at the
pickup rate of 470 HUF before you begin any journey.
• Shops, bars, and restaurants may give the wrong change as a result
of frequent visitor confusion over the multiple zeros in the currency.
• For male participants: young women may approach you and ask you
to buy them drinks or offer to take you to clubs and bars. Male
tourists who take them up on these offers will fi nd that the women
are in the employ of local bars and clubs, resulting in a hefty bill at
the end of the night.
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Q&A ON CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY (CEU) IN THE NEWS
1. Given the recent controversy around closing Central European
University, will the course take place?
Yes. As CEU President and Rector Michael Ignatieff has repeatedly
stated, CEU will continue all of its current academic activities as a
free and independent graduate university.
2. Is it true that CEU does not comply with Hungarian higher education
regulations?
This is patently false. CEU has been operating legally in Hungary for
over two decades.
3. Will CEU remain an independent institution able to exercise its
academic freedom?
A crucial part of higher education is the ability of students and
professors to be free to research the topics of their choice in an open
environment that welcomes debate and discussion. Central European
University, its board and its administration will never surrender its
academic freedom to anyone.
4. Will CEU’s international faculty, its curriculum or the quality of
education be compromised?
Absolutely not. The quality of our programs and curriculum is well-
known throughout Europe and the world. CEU’s academic programs
are ranked highly by Times Higher Education and QS Rankings
Worldwide. CEU is recognized as the 39th best young university in
the world according to the latest Times Higher Education ranking. In
addition, our degree programs in the fi elds of politics and international
studies were ranked 42nd
in the world according to
the latest Quacquarelli
Symonds (QS) subject rank-
ing. CEU faculty remain
dedicated to providing this
high level of academic
excellence.
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5. Is it safe for me to travel to Budapest to attend the course?
It is absolutely safe for you to travel to Budapest. We encourage
all participants to enjoy their stay but we do advise everyone to
take responsibility for their own safety. As usual, travelers should
always be aware of their surroundings and take caution if necessary.
While CEU staff are not in a position to produce regular updates,
we will review security information on a regular basis in advance of
the course and, should any serious issues come to light, circulate
it among participants both prior and during the course. We will in
particular draw participants’ attention to any incidents or potential
threats (such as large-scale demonstrations) in the vicinity of CEU
and hotels.
6. How can I show my support
for CEU?
First, thank you for your
support! We ask you to visit
the website https://www.ceu.
edu/taxonomy/term/380 for
ideas on how to show your
support.
7. Where can I stay up to date
with the developments?
We are dedicated to keeping our
community and our supporters informed of the situation. Please check
our website: http://www.ceu.edu for regular updates and follow us on
Facebook and Twitter.
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A NOTE ON HUNGARY
Capital city: Budapest
Population: ~ 9,9 million
Population of Budapest
~ 1,7 million (city)
~ 3,3 million (including periphery)
Language: Hungarian
Religion
54.5% Catholic, 19.5% Protestant, 0,2% other Christians,
0.1% orthodox Christian, 0.1% Judaism, 0,1% other.
Electric plug details: European plug (220V) with two circular metal pins
Country dialing code
Hungary: 0036 or +36 (00361 or +361 – for Budapest)
To dial Hungarian numbers from Hungary you can dial:
06 + 1 xxx xxxx (Budapest), or
for cellular phone: 06 + 2/3/7 + 0 + xxx xxxx.
Money
The Hungarian currency is the forint (HUF).
1 EUR = 329 HUF, 1 USD = 286 HUF
You usually CANNOT pay in Euro or US dollars. You can exchange
money at the airport or train stations, but change as little as possible
there since exchange rates at these locations are bad. It is preferable
to use one of the many ATMs or cash points across the city.
Public Transport
Budapest has an excellent public transit system consisting of
subways, buses, trolleys, trams, and electric commuter trains called
HÉV. Tickets are available at all metro stations from automated
machines, and most stations also have cashiers at ticket windows.
As the machines aren’t always reliable, it is preferable to buy
tickets directly from the cashier. Tickets can also be bought at
some newsstands, tram stops, and on some buses, but it is best to
purchase tickets at the metro station and keep a supply with you.
Tickets can be bought individually, discounted in books of 10, or in
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the form of daily, weekly, or monthly passes. You need to validate
your ticket before starting your trip on the metro or immediately upon
boarding a bus, tram, trolley, or commuter train. Insert the ticket into
the machines at metro station entrances and in the red or yellow boxes
on trams, buses, and trolleys. The yellow boxes automatically stamp
the ticket, but you must pull the black lever on the red boxes towards
the ticket to punch it. Tickets are valid for 60 minutes after they have
been stamped or for 90 minutes on the night service. Passes and
tickets are checked by inspectors at random and you will be fi ned
HUF 8,000 on the spot if you cannot produce your pass or validated
ticket. If fi ned, get a receipt, as foreigners are sometimes overcharged.
Public transportation runs from 4:30 until 23:00 and is both regular
and frequent. Night trams and buses run on an abbreviated schedule.
METRO AND SUBURBAN RAILWAY LINES
USEFUL HUNGARIAN PHRASES
English Hungarian Pronounciation
Yes/No Igen/nem igen/nem
Thank you Köszönöm Kurssurnurm
Hello Jó napot Yow nopot
Goodbye Viszontlátásra Vissont-latashruh
Please Kérem szépen Kherem sehpen
Do you speak English? Beszél angolul? Bessayl ungolool?
I can’t speak Hungarian Nem beszélek magyarul Nem besseylek mud-yarool
Entrance Bejárat Beh-yarut
Exit Kijárat Ki-yarut
I’m sorry Elnézést Ellnezeysht
Toilet WC Vaytsay
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April 22, 2016 Zaza Namoradze
On the second Tuesday of every month, in a store-front office in the small town of Bancroft,
Zaza Namoradze
Zaza Namoradze,director of theOpen Society
Justice Initiative’s Budapestoffice, oversees programs onlegal capacity development,legal empowerment, legal aidreform, and access to justice.
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Fair Change Legal Clinic in Toronto
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COURSE COORDINATORS
Tanja MANNERS
Mobile: +36 30 943 0332
Email: [email protected]
Livia MARSCHALL
Mobile: +36 30 629 1807
Email: [email protected]
Ilona PUSKÁS
Mobile: +36 20 945 4291
Email: [email protected]
The 2016 Legal Empowerment Leadership Course participants
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COURSE DIRECTOR
Vivek MARU
Vivek founded Namati in 2011 to grow the movement for
legal empowerment around the world. Namati and its partners
have built cadres of community legal workers – sometimes
known as “barefoot lawyers” – in ten countries. The advocates
have worked with over 65,000 people to protect community
lands, enforce environmental law, and secure basic rights to
healthcare and citizenship. Namati convenes the Global Legal Empowerment Network,
more than 1,000 groups from 150 countries who are learning from one another and
collaborating on common challenges. This community successfully advocated for
the inclusion of access to justice in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. From
2003 to 2007, Vivek co-founded and co-directed the Sierra Leonean organization
Timap for Justice, which has been recognized by the International Crisis Group,
Transparency International, and President Jimmy Carter as a pioneering model for
delivering justice services in the context of a weak state and a plural legal system.
From 2008 to 2011, he served as senior counsel in the Justice Reform Group of the
World Bank. His work focused on rule of law reform and governance, primarily in West
Africa and South Asia. In 1997–1998 he lived in a hut of dung and sticks in a village
in Kutch, his native place, working on watershed management and girls’ education
with two grassroots development organizations – Sahjeevan and Kutch Mahila Vikas
Sanghathan. Vivek graduated from Harvard College, magna cum laude, and Yale
Law School. He writes regularly in academic journals and in the press. He serves
on the board of trustees of the global advocacy organization Avaaz, the international
advisory council of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, the advisory board
of the evaluation fi rm ID Insight, and the boards of the Constitutional Accountability
Center and the International Senior Lawyers Project. He was an affi liate expert with
the UN Commission on Legal Empowerment and is a term member of the Council on
Foreign Relations. Vivek received the Pioneer Award from the North American South
Asian Bar Association in 2008. He was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2014 and a
“legal rebel” by the American Bar Association in 2015. He, Namati, and the Global
Legal Empowerment Network received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in
2016. In 2017, the Schwab Foundation named Vivek and Sonkita Conteh, director
of Namati–Sierra Leone, two of its Social Entrepreneurs of the Year. Vivek studies
capoeira angola with Dale Marcelin at Universal Capoeira Angola Center
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FACULTY
Sukti DHITAL
Sukti is the Deputy Director of the Robert L. Bernstein
Institute for Human Rights at New York University School of
Law and a human rights lawyer with extensive international
law experience in the fi elds of economic and social rights.
Previously, Sukti was the Executive Director and CoFounder of
Nazdeek, an award-winning legal empowerment organization
committed to bringing access to justice closer to marginalized communities in
India. Prior to Nazdeek, she was the Director of the Reproductive Rights Unit at the
Human Rights Law Network, India where she assisted in securing landmark social
and economic rights judgments including Laxmi Mandal v. Deen Dayal Harinagar
Hospital & ORS, W.P.(C) 8853/2008, the fi rst decision by a national court to
recognize maternal mortality as a human rights violation. Sukti has also worked at
the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project and the fi rm of
Bingham McCutchen LLP.
Michele M. LEERING
Michele is the Executive Director/Lawyer of the Community
Advocacy & Legal Centre, a non-profi t legal clinic serving
small urban and rural communities in Ontario, Canada. She is
a member of the International Legal Aid Group and has worked
with the Open Society Justice Initiative and the International
Renaissance Foundation to advise on legal empowerment,
paralegals and Ontario’s community legal clinic system. In addition to traditional
lawyering, she has led a wide range of legal literacy, community development, systemic
advocacy, and law reform projects. Current initiatives use community-based action
research to build the legal capability of “trusted intermediaries, with a focus on Justice
& Health (medical-legal) and Libraries & Justice partnerships. She was a founding
member of the Association of Community Legal Clinics Ontario. Her leadership work
with Ontario’s clinic system has included developing performance evaluation, quality
assurance, and outcome measurement systems; creating a community of practice for
clinic managers, and a legal aid service coordination network; leading a project to
improve knowledge management across the system; and implementing rural justice
initiatives. She is also a doctoral student in the Faculty of Law at Queen’s University
(Ontario). She has published her research on legal education reform and engaging
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the legal profession in access to justice. She has been a Law Foundation of Ontario
Community Leadership in Justice Fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School and a Visiting
Fellow at Australian National University and Bond University (Australia).
Marlon J. MANUEL
Marlon is the National Coordinator of the Alternative Law
Groups (ALG), a coalition of more than 20 Philippine NGOs
that adhere to the principles and values of alternative or
social development-oriented law practice. These organizations
have distinct programs for legal assistance that is primarily
concerned with the pursuit of public interest, respect for
human rights, and promotion of social justice. From 1996, he has gained two
decades of experience in social justice and human rights lawyering. He has combined
his involvement in strategic litigation on human rights and public interest issues
with his education activities. He has deep involvement in justice and human rights
education, not only as a law school professor, but also, and more extensively, as a
grassroots community educator, continuously practicing and advocating the principles
of education for people empowerment as he work with farmers, workers, and other
vulnerable groups. He is also actively involved in policy reform work on social justice
and human rights legislation, and in justice system reform work on improving access
to justice by the poor.
Zaza NAMORADZE
As the director of the Open Society Justice Initiative’s Budapest
offi ce, Zaza oversees activities on legal aid and defendants’
rights and legal empowerment and capacity. He previously
served as staff attorney and, later, deputy director of the Open
Society Institute’s Constitutional and Legal Policy Institute,
where he designed and oversaw projects in constitutional and
judicial reforms and student law clinics and human rights litigation capacity building
in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Zaza has worked for the Center for
the Study of Constitutionalism in Eastern Europe, the Central Electoral Commission
of Georgia, and was a member of the State Constitutional Commission of Georgia. He
graduated from the Law Faculty of Tbilisi State University, studied in the Comparative
Constitutionalism Program of the Central European University, and earned an LLM
from the University of Chicago Law School.
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Margaret L. SATTERTHWAITE
Margaret is a Professor of Clinical Law, Faculty Director of
the Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, and Co-
Chair of the Center for Human Rights and the Global Justice
at New York University School of Law. Her research interests
include economic and social rights, human rights and counter-
terrorism, methodological innovation in human rights, and vica-
rious trauma among human rights workers. Before joining the academy, she worked
for a number of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human
Rights First, and the Commission Nationale de Verité et de Justice in Haiti. As
Director of the Global Justice Clinic, she partners with grassroots organizations and
movements to prevent, challenge, and redress rights violations in situations of global
inequality. Margaret has worked as a consultant to numerous UN agencies and special
rapporteurs and has served on the boards of several human rights organizations.
Purvi SHAH
Purvi is the founder of the Movement Law Lab, a strategy,
action and innovation hub that brings lawyers together with
other change-makers to implement novel, bold solutions for
some of America’s toughest racial justice problems. A place
for strategic collaboration, interventions, disruptions, and
experiments, the Movement Law Lab invests in legal inno-
vators who are committed to accelerating justice. Purvi is also a current Open
Society Foundation Equality Fellow. Previously, she co-founded Law4BlackLives, a
national network of 3000 lawyers dedicated to supporting the Movement For Black
Lives, which was founded in the aftermath of the Ferguson and Baltimore uprisings.
Before that, Purvi worked at the Center for Constitutional Rights where she directed
the Bertha Justice Institute, the United States’ fi rst training institute dedicated to
advancing movement lawyering. She has also worked as a litigator and community
organizer, and co-founded the Community Justice Project at Florida Legal Services
where she litigated for six years on behalf of taxi drivers, tenants, public housing
residents, and immigrants. She also was a law professor, serving as the Co-Director of
the Community Lawyering Clinic at the University of Miami’s School of Law. Purvi is a
graduate of Northwestern University and the Berkeley School of Law at the University
of California.
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PARTICIPANTS
Devidatta ACHARYA
Disabled Empowerment and Communication Center l Nepal
Devidatta was born in a remote village in Nepal. He acquired a
disability after having contracted polio at the age of 5. As a student,
he became interested in human rights and rule of law and formed
a self-help group for persons with disabilities in the local commu-
nity of Banke. He later founded the Disabled Empowerment and
Communication Center (DECN), a non-governmental, community-based organization
that aims to empower persons with disabilities and improve their socioeconomic well-
being. By promoting access to justice and through activities of sensitization, Devidatta
aims to mainstream disability in the development agenda. He has acted as key facili-
tator in numerous trainings to promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabili-
ties, has provided a platform for marginalized groups and community-based DPOs and
launched a campaign to advance the political representation of persons with disabilities.
Fatima ADAMU
Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative l Nigeria
Fatima is a community-based paralegal and program manager
at the Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative (IWEI) in Kano, Nigeria.
She majored in biology at the Kano University of Science and
Technology and subsequently obtained a postgraduate degree
in confl ict, peace and strategic studies. Prior to joining the
IWEI in 2010, she worked as a biology teacher and mentor, raising awareness among
adolescents with regard to access to justice. She is passionate about the rights of
women and children and works tirelessly through research, program design and
implementation to improve their lives.
Violah Balson AJOK
Legal Aid Service Providers’ Network l Uganda
Violah is currently working as a research and knowledge
management offi cer at the Legal Aid Service Providers’ Network
in Kampala, where she coordinates pilot initiatives to enhance
transparency and accountability in the justice sector. She is
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well-versed on issues of legal aid, access to justice and project management and
has experience in policy, law reform, community legal education and stakeholder
management at both subnational and national levels. She holds an LLB degree as well
as a master’s degree in international trade and investment law from the University of
Pretoria, South Africa. Previously, she taught introductory courses on law and was a
researcher at the Department of Legal History, Philosophy and Comparative Law at
the same university.
Katherine ALTENEDER
Self-Represented Litigation Network l United States
With a background in designing and implementing access to
justice initiatives for legal aid, courts and private practice,
Katherine’s philosophy throughout her career has been to
build common sense and consumer-oriented solutions by
learning, innovating and sharing. An early member of the
Self-Represented Litigation Network, she has led the SRLN since August 2013.
Katherine is particularly interested in building delivery systems for rural and
vulnerable populations and creating community-based legal assistance environments
that prioritize judicial engagement. Her ultimate goal is to re-evaluate services and
approaches used by the private bar, legal aid and court staff to better serve the
public. Katherine, a graduate of Northwestern University and the Seattle University
School of Law, resides in Virginia.
Kulsum AMEJI
Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago l United States
Kulsum currently serves as a senior attorney in the Community
Engagement Unit at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago.
She is an honors graduate of Smith College in Northampton,
Massachusetts. Kulsum has extensive experience providing
legal information, advice, representation, and outreach to
diverse populations including minorities, immigrants and refugees from over 70
countries, low-income workers, and communities experiencing health disparities.
She has expertise in community legal education, deliberately incorporating creative
pedagogical strategies and popular education frameworks. She is also the founder
of the Economic Justice Work Group which connects legal service organizations
to economic empowerment, anti-poverty, social service, academic, and advocacy
entities. In addition, she created a Mapping Justice project, to integrate GIS mapping,
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data analysis, and other emergent technologies into legal services work. She is also
the Founder and Director of Project Prospera, an interdisciplinary social innovation
collaboration combining law, art, technology, and design. She is a co-founder of
the ReEntry CoLab linking law and technology to address deeply entrenched social
issues. Kulsum serves on the Board of Directors for Global Gardens Farm, an urban
agriculture project serving refugees. She is also an adjunct profess or at Northwestern
University teaching courses in Legal Culture and Process, Current Issues in Law, and
Social Justice.
David ARACH
Namati l Uganda
Currently based in Nairobi, Kenya, David has been working
with Namati as the Community Land Protection Program’s
East Africa program offi cer since 2016. As part of his work, he
advocates security of tenure as a key element in sustainable
and productive land use and aims to strengthen communities’
ability to protect, document and defend their land rights. Before joining Namati, David
worked with the Land and Equity Movement in Uganda (LEMU) to implement their
Community Land Protection Program. David graduated from Makerere University,
Kampala, in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial chemistry, where he also
attended postgraduate courses in M&E and statistical data management. In addition,
he has received formal training in facilitation skills.
Jehad ARAFAT
Norwegian Refugee Council l Palestine
Jehad is the project coordinator of the Norwegian Refugee
Council’s Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance
Program in Gaza, Palestine. He received his LLM degree in
human rights from Central European University in Hungary
with a specialization in international justice and has worked
with different humanitarian and human rights organizations within Gaza, such as
Médecins Sans Frontières and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. Jehad is also
the co-author of a number of publications including ‘A Guide to Housing, Land and
Property Law in the Gaza Strip’ and ‘Women’s Housing, Land and Property Rights in
the Gaza Strip: A Means to Tenure Security and Economic Empowerment.’
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William BENNETT
Saferworld l United Kingdom
Will is a confl ict and security adviser at Saferworld where he
leads policy work on security and justice across 20 countries.
He is also currently senior adviser at the Dutch Ministry of
Foreign Affairs’ Knowledge Platform on Security & Rule of
Law. Previously, he worked for international organizations
including UNICEF and Amnesty International. His work focuses on peace, security
and justice interventions, inequality and power, and western foreign policy. Will holds
a BA (Hons) in history from the University of Bristol, an MA (Hons) in war studies
from King’s College, London, and is currently studying for a PhD in transforming
urban confl icts at Birkbeck.
Luciana BERCOVICH
Namati l Argentina
Luciana is a human rights attorney from Argentina and has
been working on access to justice and social rights for more
than ten years. Currently, she is coordinating the Global Legal
Empowerment Network efforts in Latin America. Previously,
she was co-director of the Civil Association for Equality and
Justice and a member of the Network Guidance Committee. She is primarily involved
in litigation activities related to social justice, accountability, access to justice,
grassroots organizations and social movements. Luciana was a university professor of
human rights and constitutional law in Argentina, and she has worked as a consultant
researcher with the Center for Economic and Social Rights and the Inter-American
Development Bank. She has authored several books, papers and op-eds about social
rights and access to justice.
Sabina CERBU
Efrim Rosca & Associates l Moldova
Sabina is an associate attorney at Efrim Rosca & Associates
(ERA). She holds an LLM degree from Moldova State
University, an LLM from Erasmus University Rotterdam, as
well as an MA in economics from the University of Bologna.
Legal empowerment has been one of her priorities since she
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was a student, having volunteered early on within the Legal Clinic of the Moldova
State University. She later participated in promoting and developing policies related
to state aid and community paralegals when she was working at the Ministry of
Justice. Currently, she is in charge of developing pro-bono policies within ERA, and
is actively participating in implementing a joint program between ERA and the Soros
Foundation in Moldova on strengthening the network of community-based paralegals.
David da CONCEICAO SAUTE
Namati l Mozambique
David joined Namati in 2016 as a paralegal. He focuses on
legal empowerment and right to health and is responsible for
raising awareness about health policies and protocols among
patients and their broader communities. He works alongside
patients to document complaints and respond to health-
related human rights violations. He is also responsible for building the capacity of the
Village Health Committee and conducting advocacy work with government leadership
to address key challenges. Outside of work, David is a music enthusiast.
Thomas DIXON
Asylum Access l United Kingdom
Tom is the global legal services & empowerment lead for Asylum
Access in Bangkok, Thailand. As part of this role, he supports the
development and management of programs in Thailand, Ma-
laysia, Tanzania, Ecuador and Mexico. The programs consist of
legal services, community empowerment and policy advocacy. His
organization has also recently begun to establish refugee-staffed paralegal programs to
improve their connection with refugee communities and deliver greater access to rights
and services. Before joining Asylum Access, Tom worked as a legal offi cer in Cairo with
St. Andrew’s Refugee Services and as an intern on the RSD team with UNHCR. He
holds a master’s degree in international studies from Newcastle University, UK.
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Malick Mbengue FALL
Open Society Initiative for West Africa l Senegal
Malick works as a program associate at the Open Society
Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) based in Dakar, Senegal.
He is part of the Senegal country offi ce team working on the
foundation’s intervention pillars of democracy, governance, rule
of law and human rights. More specifi cally, his work focuses
on legal empowerment, access to justice, minority rights, food security in the context
of climate change and criminal sanctions. Malick joined the foundation in 2012
and has monitored the implementation of projects on various issues such as women
empowerment, prison reform, election management, civic engagement, transparency
and public service delivery. Malick holds a master’s degree in political science
from Gaston Berger University in Senegal and is a PhD candidate working on civic
movement dynamics in sub-Saharan African democracies. He also holds a master’s
degree in literature and civilization of the Anglophone world from the same university.
Maria Victoria GAMA
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights l Argentina
Victoria is an Argentinian lawyer who graduated from
Universidad de Buenos Aires in 2012. She has an LLM degree
in international legal studies from the American University
Washington College of Law (2015), having received a Fulbright
Scholarship (2014–2015) and a P.E.O. International Peace
Scholarship to pursue her studies. She has previously worked as a lawyer at the Inter-
American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) analyzing requests for preliminary
measures. She is currently coordinating a UNDP-fi nanced project at the Offi ce of
the National Director for the Promotion and Strengthening of Access to Justice in
Argentina where she is responsible for the development of a national network of
free legal representation. For such purposes, she is currently developing alliances
with universities, bar associations and NGOs to assist and reinforce the work carried
out by the Centers for Access. Additionally, she and her team are putting together
workshops and introductory legal courses to empower vulnerable communities across
the country.
36
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s Oudom HAM
EarthRights International l Cambodia
Since 2014, Oudom has worked for EarthRights International
(ERI) to provide capacity building and human rights training to
communities whose livelihoods have been challenged by large
infrastructure developments in Cambodia. More specifi cally,
Oudom is helping communities affected by the construction of
the Lower Sesan 2 and Don Sahong dams to take action against companies that are
connected with the project. With the help of ERI, local communities are starting to
mobilize themselves in order to protect their rights as well as their natural resources.
In addition, Oudom is facilitating the establishment of a grassroots organization that
empowers its members to self-regulate and dynamically and fully advocate for their
rights and common interests.
Manzoor HASAN
BRAC University l Bangladesh
Manzoor is the Executive Director of the Centre for Peace &
Justice of BRAC University. He was the Director of BRAC’s
Institute of Governance & Development (2006–2012) and the
deputy Executive Director of BRAC (2004–2006). He was also
the founding Executive Director of Transparency International
Bangladesh (1996–2003) and subsequently the Regional Director (Asia Pacifi c) of
Transparency International, Berlin. In 2003 he was awarded the Honour of the Offi cer
of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to Transparency
International. Manzoor graduated from the London School of Economics and is a
member of the English Bar.
Oleksandr HRYB
Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision l Ukraine
Oleksandr graduated from the Faculty of Biology of Chernivtsi
National University in 2007 and subsequently obtained a
master’s degree in public administration from the National
Academy of Public Administration under the President
of Ukraine. Since July 2012, he has been working at the
Coordination Center for Legal Aid Provision in Kyiv where he is responsible for
coordinating and monitoring the centers for free secondary legal aid provision. He is
37
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salso involved in building a network of paralegals and encouraging cooperation with
non-governmental legal aid providers.
Chernor Mamoud Benedict JALLOH
Access to Justice Law Center l Sierra Leone
Chernor is a barrister-at-law and solicitor of the High Court
of Sierra Leone. He is the founding director of the Access to
Justice Law Center (AJLC), a public law organization working
to provide access to justice for the poor living in rural Sierra
Leone. As the director of AJLC, Chernor has initiated and
implemented several community justice projects that engage paralegals to provide
legal information and empowerment to rural communities. He has advocated and
lobbied for the amendment of the Legal Practitioner’s Act that in turn led to the
decentralization of legal education in Sierra Leone. Chernor is also the founding head
of the law department at the University of Makeni.
Mohamed Bobor JALLOH
Lady Ellen Women’s Aid Foundation l Sierra Leone
Mohamed holds a master’s degree in economics from Swansea
University in Wales with a specialization in social development
policy and management. He has over two decades of hands-
on program management experience and has dedicated his
professional life to women’s protection and empowerment.
He has designed, implemented and monitored various socio-economic development
projects for women and girls and has worked mostly in rural communities in Sierra
Leone. Mohamed is the founder and executive director of the Lady Ellen Women’s Aid
Foundation (LEWAF–SL) – a national program that works towards tackling violence
against women and girls. Over the past three years, LEWAF–SL has made considerable
improvements in the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged women and girls through
its prevention, protection, response and advocacy intervention approaches. Mohamed
is also an experienced paralegal and coordinator of the Western Area Network on
Community Justice Coalition (WAN–CJ).
38
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s Bariashirsuren JARGALSAIKHAN
Legal Aid Center l Mongolia
Bariashirsuren recently started her work as a head of the
administrative division of the Legal Aid Center (LAC) of
Mongolia. Prior to joining LAC, she served as a researcher with
the National Legal Institute and as a judicial training specialist
at the Judicial Council of Mongolia. In 2008, Bariashirsuren
received her jurist degree from the Faculty of Law and Political Science, Eötvös
Loránd University (Budapest).
Nishma JETHWA
Strategic Advocacy for Human Rights l United Kingdom
Nishma is a human rights lawyer and gender rights advocate.
She is director of strategy at the Strategic Advocacy for Human
Rights (SAHR) and heads its India team, working to improve
access to formal and community-based systems of justice for
survivors of gender-based violence. She is also the strategy
lead at the Shiva Foundation, which supports systemic change to tackle human
traffi cking in the UK and in India. She has experience working on issues surrounding
gender and race, including working at the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre,
the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, the South Asian Human
Rights Documentation Centre and Aman Biradari. She is currently based between
London and Mumbai.
Mabera KAMBERI
Ministry of Labour and Social Policy l Macedonia
Mabera is the head of sector for coordination and technical
assistant to the minister at the Ministry of Labour and Social
Policy in Skopje. She is responsible for coordinating the
activities of her sector, including organizing conferences,
participating in non-formal educational programs and imple-
menting projects related to the Decade of Roma Inclusion. In addition, Mabera has
served as a member of the executive board of the Roma Education Fund in Budapest
as well as a member of the executive board of OSI in Skopje. Most recently, she was
a member of the MG-S-ROM – Council of Europe Group of Specialists on Roma,
Gypsies and Travellers between 2006 and 2011.
39
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sEmmanuel Sibomana KAMONYO
Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa l Rwanda
Emmanuel is a health and human rights activist who has been
focusing on advancing the health and wellbeing of marginalized
and socially excluded groups through rights-based approaches.
He has previously worked with the Open Society Initiative for
Eastern Africa (OSIEA) as a health and rights program offi cer
based in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to joining OSIEA, he worked at the Rwanda Ministry
of Health as a legal adviser in charge of drafting public health legislation. He has
also worked with various national and international human rights NGOs and as rule
of law offi cer with UNDP Sudan. Emmanuel is a lawyer by profession and holds an
LLM degree in human rights and democratization from the European Inter-University
Centre in Venice, Italy. He is also an MPH candidate at Maseno University in Kenya.
He currently lives in Montreal, Canada.
Nuriana KARTANBAEVA
Soros Foundation l Kyrgyzstan
Nuriana is the deputy executive director and director of
the Law Program of the Soros Foundation-Kyrgyzstan. Her
responsibilities include supporting judicial reform and the
institutional development of the National Bar Association,
advancing the legal aid system, preventing torture and ill-
treatment and promoting civil society and human rights education. Before joining
OSF, Nuriana worked for fi ve years as the national program coordinator at the Regional
Offi ce of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR ROCA) based in
Bishkek. She holds an MA degree in international studies from the University of
Denver (DU) where she studied as an Edmund Muskie fellow.
Daniel KASS
JustFix.nyc l United States
Dan is a technologist, community organizer and tenant advocate
working at the intersection of legal innovation and technology.
He is a co-founder at JustFix.nyc, a nonprofi t startup that
serves low-income tenants facing landlord harassment and
displacement as a result of gentrifi cation. They have served
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s over 1,000 households across the city and garnered widespread acclaim from tenants
and policymakers alike. Prior to JustFix.nyc, Dan was a 2015 fellow at Blue Ridge
Labs, an intensive research and design program focused on addressing barriers faced
by underserved populations. With a background in computer science, he has led
large-scale projects for Spotify, Time Inc and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
He has also served as an undergraduate researcher on digital inclusion measures at
the Tufts Fletcher School as well as a support worker for the federally incarcerated
through the Focus Forward Project. In his spare time, he enjoys science fi ction,
wilderness backpacking and proper New York-style pizza.
Zoryana KHRYSTYNA
Legal Development Network l Ukraine
Zoryana graduated from the Ivan Franko National University of
Lviv with a master’s degree in law, specializing in the consti-
tutional and legal aspects of local government activities. Since
2011, she has been working with international institutions in
the fi eld of legal empowerment. She is a board member of
the Legal Development Network, a coalition of non-governmental organizations that
provide free legal aid services to local communities and ensure legal awareness and
the protection of public interest.
Patricia KIMERA
Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum l Uganda
Patricia is an advocate of the High Court and all subordinate
courts in Uganda. She holds an LLB degree from Makerere
University and is currently pursuing her LLM degree at the
same university. In addition, she was awarded a postgraduate
diploma in legal practice by the Law Development Center
in 2010. Patricia is a human rights advocate who currently heads the Access to
Justice Program at the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum and has been
coordinating its community paralegal project from 2011. She is also a member of
the steering and legal committees of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and
Constitutional Law in Uganda and a member of the Baylor-Uganda Key Population
Priority Populations Community Advisory Board.
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sMagdelene Wanza KIOKO
Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa l Kenya
Wanza is the program manager for the Democratic Governance
and Rule of Law program of the Open Society Initiative for
Eastern Africa (OSIEA). She has a wealth of experience in
human rights, governance, rule of law and justice programming.
Wanza joined OSIEA from UNDP Somalia where she was the
area project manager responsible for the Puntland State of Somalia for two years.
Previously, she worked with UNDP Sierra Leone as a rule of law specialist and served
as an institutional development adviser for the Human Rights Commission of Sierra
Leone. She has taught at the Faculty of Law at the University of Nairobi and worked
with the Center for Law and Research International (CLARION).
Nadiia KZYZTSKA
Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision l Ukraine
Nadiia is a communications manager with experience in both
the public and business sectors. Since 2014, she has been
working at the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision, a
state institution responsible for the establishment of a nation-
wide legal aid system with more than 550 offi ces throughout
Ukraine. As head of communications, she is in charge of informing the public about
the organization’s mandate and activities, as well as its community legal empowerment
program. Nadiia holds a master’s degree in philology from Taras Shevchenko National
University of Kyiv.
Ajeng LARASATI
LBH Masyarakat l Indonesia
Ajeng is the research and policy coordinator of LBH Masyarakat
– a Jakarta-based not-for-profi t organization providing free legal
aid services and legal and human rights empowerment for poor
and marginalized groups. With a Chevening Scholarship from
the UK, she obtained her LLM degree from the University of
Essex, majoring in economic, social and cultural rights. She leads LBH Masyarakat’s
work on intersecting issues between human rights, HIV and drug policy. Since 2009,
she has trained paralegals who work with most-at-risk populations on legal and human
rights issues in Indonesia. She has also spoken on national and international fora
highlighting the human rights barriers to HIV treatment and has presented initiatives
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s to overcome them. Ajeng also led the development of the human rights module for
Indonesia’s proposal to the Global Fund to fi ght AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Shadrack LAWRENCE
Emtla Koloni Advice and Paralegal Centre l South Africa
Shadrack was born in a small town in South Africa. He joined
the Douglas Advice and Development Offi ce, the fi rst advisory
offi ce in his district, in 2006. After its closure, he and a friend
decided to revive the organization and founded the Emtla
Koloni Advice and Paralegal Centre, where they continue to
fi ght for access to justice for poor and marginalized communities in South Africa.
He was subsequently elected as a council member of the Association of Community
Advice Offi ces of South Africa (ACAOSA) and serves as a provincial secretary.
Ross MACLAREN
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation l United Kingdom
Ross is a London-based program offi cer overseeing Mott’s
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) grant-making in Belarus,
Moldova and Ukraine. Prior to joining Mott in 2006, he worked
for grant-making organizations throughout CEE and Russia.
Most recently in this fi eld, he served as director of the Institute
for Sustainable Communities’ Russian Far East offi ce in Khabarovsk. He holds a
bachelor’s degree in Russian and East European studies from the University of
Toronto and a master’s degree in Central/Eastern European and Russian Area studies
from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
Ayesha Alam MALIK
AGHS Legal Aid Cell l Pakistan
Having studied law at undergraduate level at Oxford University
(Trinity College) and then having obtained a master’s of
law specialising in international law at University College,
London, Ayesha is an associate with the AGHS Legal Aid Cell
in Lahore, Pakistan, where she researches and drafts legal
petitions and contracts for High Court and Supreme Court cases. Notable cases on
which she worked include a seminal sexual harassment case, a cultural heritage
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scase and a prisoner transfer case from the UK to Pakistan. She also works with
renowned human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir on human rights cases. In 2014–15,
Ayesha worked in South Sudan managing grants for the NGO Concern Worldwide,
with a funding portfolio of over £10 mio and reviewed project contracts against
relevant legal criteria and identifi ed legal risks.
Rodica MARCINSCHI
Soros Foundation l Moldova
Rodica holds a master’s degree in international law from the
State University of Moldova and has been working at Soros
Foundation-Moldova since 2016 as a project assistant at the
Justice and Human Rights Department. Prior to OSF, she
held various positions at SE SIRC Registru, where she was
responsible for managing the company’s information society projects. Her main
areas of expertise include access to justice, legal empowerment and community
organizations. Being responsible for the implementation of the “Shared Framework
of Legal Empowerment” project, she works closely with grassroots organizations and
governmental entities in order to ensure access to justice for the most vulnerable
groups.
Christopher Abuor MARTIN
Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa l Kenya
Chris is the health rights program assistant of the Open Society
Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA) where he focuses on issues
related to harm reduction, sexual reproductive health and
LGBTI rights. He is a committed human rights advocate with
experience that spans from community organizing in informal
settlements of Kenya to working at large international philanthropic organizations as
a community mobiliser. Having been brought up in one of the largest slums in Kenya,
he co-founded youth-led community groups that focus on right to housing, confl ict
resolution and peace-building (a much needed endeavor particularly after the 2007
post-election violence which he personally witnessed). He is also currently pursuing a
degree in criminal justice and security management at the Africa Nazarene University
in Nairobi.
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44
Ramadhan Jacob MASELE
Legal Services Facility l Tanzania
Ramadhan is a program manager at the Legal Services
Facility (LSF) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He coordinates the
implementation of LSF program initiatives in support of
increasing access to justice for all, in particular women.
Ramadhan has been involved in the project ‘Paralegals engaging
with local government leaders for an increased protection of women’s rights’ which
was piloted in three districts of Tanzania. With over 12 years’ experience in working
towards the protection of women’s rights, he is also a member of the most vibrant NGO
– Kivulini Women’s Rights Organization – which is based in Mwanza, Tanzania. He is
a sociology graduate of the University of Dar es Salaam and holds a master’s degree in
development policy and practice for civil society from Bradford University.
Mkhululi MAZULA
Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing
Countries l South Africa
Mkhululi was born in Langa, South Africa, and went to high
school in a poverty-stricken village during the apartheid era.
His high school years would later prompt him to dedicate
his professional life to working for poor and marginalized
communities. He started out as a facilitator in youth programs that focused on
involving young people in democracy building, and then transitioned to conducting
HIV/AIDS awareness programs among adolescents and sex workers, and mentoring
CBOs and advice offi ces. Mkhululi has worked in the development sector for 19
years, most recently as a program offi cer at the Humanist Institute for Cooperation
with Developing Countries (HIVOS).
Tim MILLAR
Namati l Myanmar
Tim Millar has been Namati’s Country Director in Myanmar
for two and half years. Over the last 15 years Tim has worked
in China, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Gaza for a range of local
and international human rights NGOs including Amnesty
International, The Rights Practice, The Cairo Institute for
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45
Human Rights Studies, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. This work
has been thematically focused on torture, the protection of the rights of vulnerable
and marginalized groups, training for lawyers, international human rights standards
and mechanisms, and war crimes. Tim holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
philosophy from the University of Leeds.
Arpeeta Shams MIZAN
University of Dhaka l Bangladesh
Arpeeta is a lecturer at the University of Dhaka. She completed
her LLM degree at Harvard Law School in 2015. As a socio-
legal analyst, Arpeeta is immensely passionate about human
rights, religion and colonial history. Her professional journey
began during her undergraduate studies at the University of
Dhaka, where she joined the Street Law Program. She later became the coordinator
of the program and organized legal literacy workshops for students, educators and
government employees. Subsequently, she completed a clinical semester on street
law at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, as part of her Harvard LLM
program. Currently, she is a mentor at Kolpokoushol, an interdisciplinary research
organization where she co-runs the Laws Network Visualization project and designs
human rights fact-fi nding simulation workshops for the Human Rights Summer
School, an annual residential training program. Besides law, Arpeeta also teaches
French, regularly contributes to two leading English newspapers on literary and
cultural issues, and paints in her free time.
Boitumelo MTHOMBENI
Thusang Morwalo Advice Centre l South Africa
Tumi was born in Zambia, where her father was in exile, and
moved back to South Africa at the age of three. She works
for the Thusang Morwalo Advice Centre in Kagiso, assisting
the community with legal issues. She completed a paralegal
training course at the Dullah Omar School for Paralegals and is
currently pursuing a senior paralegal diploma at the SA School of Paralegal Studies.
Her lifelong dream is to see all South Africans exercise their legal rights and have
access to justice.
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s Menaal MUNSHEY
University of Cambridge l Pakistan
Menaal is a PhD candidate in criminology at the University of
Cambridge, where her research focuses on access to justice
in Lebanon. She is a lawyer and senior research coordinator
at the Legal Aid Offi ce in Karachi, Pakistan. Previously, she
was a researcher with the United Nations University Centre for
Policy Research in Tokyo where she conducted research on terrorism, organized crime
and peacekeeping. She previously read law at the University of Warwick, with an
Erasmus year at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. Menaal was a recipient of the
Sir Albion Richardson scholarship at Gray’s Inn and was called to the Bar in 2014.
Chimwemwe NDALAHOMA
Paralegal Advisory Services Institute l Malawi
Chimwemwe was exposed to Malawi’s justice system at an early
age as his father was a senior police offi cer. This childhood
experience contributed to his passion for penal reform and
commitment to protecting the rights of prisoners. In 2000,
Chimwemwe began working on developing a paralegal advisory
services program in response to life-threatening conditions in Malawi’s prisons. With
the help of the Paralegal Advisory Services Institute (PASI), conditions in Malawi’s
prisons have greatly improved over the years. Due to its success, PASI’s model has
been adapted and replicated in Benin, Kenya, Uganda, Niger, Sierra Leone, Nigeria
and Bangladesh. Chimwemwe is currently assisting the national director in running
the affairs of PASI and coordinates the work of paralegals. He is studying law, has
attended human rights trainings in Denmark and Switzerland and has also presented
papers on the role of non-lawyers in the justice system at various legal aid conferences
and workshops across the globe. He received a Best Paralegal Award in 2001 and is
a 2008 Justice Fellow.
Khanyisa NOMOYI
Nadcao l South Africa
Khanyisa is an activist, feminist and researcher dedicated to
social change on various levels. She holds a BA (Hons) from
Rhodes University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree
in African literature at the University of Witwatersrand in
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47
South Africa. Her dissertation focuses on the understanding of wellness for women
healers who are ex-offenders. During her years at Rhodes, she led various student
initiatives including the Students’ HIV/AIDS Resistance Campaign and the Gender
Action Project, and has interned with local NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières
and SECTION27. Currently, Khanyisa works for Nadcao as a research and knowledge
management intern. Part of her duties include coordinating the central case
management system, which functions as a data-capturing tool for community advice
offi ces. She has also been involved in legal empowerment and access to justice
initiatives for LGBTQIA+ and women’s programs.
Masan NURPIAN
Ministry of Law and Human Rights l Indonesia
Masan heads a subdivision of the Legal Aid Program in Indo-
nesia. The organization, which specializes in assisting under-
privileged groups, encompasses 405 legal aid organizations,
2070 legal advocates and 2130 paralegals. He is a certifi ed
legal counselor and is involved in various non-litigation
activities to help alleviate Indonesia’s drug problems. Previously, Masan worked at
the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in Indonesia.
Jida OJJEH
Justice Center for Legal Aid l Jordan
Jida has always dreamed of a peaceful and equitable world,
and through her work at the Justice Center for Legal Aid
(JCLA), she is on the right path to fulfi lling this dream. The
organization works to ensure equal access to justice for all
and develop the national legal aid system in Jordan. Having
graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management sciences from the German
Jordanian University in 2016, Jida was exposed to an inclusive and equal opportunity
culture, characteristics of which she aims to promote at home. She moved to Jordan
in 2012, but a part of her will always remain in her home country, Syria. In her spare
time, Jida enjoys socializing, playing tennis and seeking outdoor adventures.
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s Anna OLSEN
International Labour Organization l Australia
Anna is the technical specialist of TRIANGLE within the
ASEAN program at the International Labour Organization. In
this role, she works on legal and policy development, assisting
with capacity building activities, providing support in drafting
of legislation to protect migrants and managing activities for
providing direct support to migrant workers in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Myanmar,
Thailand and Malaysia. Prior to this role, Anna worked more broadly on issues of
human traffi cking, labor migration, child protection and women’s rights in Southeast
Asia. She was based in Cambodia for fi ve years, working with the Ministry of Women’s
Affairs as a technical assistant to the minister. Anna holds a degree in arts and laws
from the University of Melbourne and a LLM from the Australian National University.
Bernard OTINEO
Himiza Social Justice l Tanzania
Bernard is an advocate of the High Court of Tanzania and a
2016 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African
Leaders recipient. He is the executive director of Himiza Social
Justice, where he focuses on legal and policy advocacy, capacity
building, community empowerment and youth engagement in
Tanzania. He is also a managing partner at Rafi ki Attorneys & Co. Advocates where
he practices law, including civil and criminal litigations, and conducts trainings for
associates, volunteers and interns. Bernard is passionate about fi ghting gender-based
violence and climate change; his organization is a member of the Gender-Based
Violence Network in Africa and he recently attended the fi rst African Conference
of Youth on Climate Change and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in
Kampala, Uganda.
Shruti PANDEY
Ford Foundation l India
Shruti is a program offi cer at the Ford Foundation for India,
Nepal and Sri Lanka. Through her work, she has supported
grassroots public interest law remedies, reinforced the role of
community-based lawyers in ensuring rights for marginalized
groups and, more recently, has worked on inclusive urbaniza-
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49
tion. She has also participated in the post-confl ict constitutional processes of Sri
Lanka and Nepal. Previously, Shruti litigated for 15 years in the Supreme Court
of India and the High Court of Delhi, being primarily involved in landmark public
interest cases. In those years, she also worked in various capacities with the Lawyers
Collective, the Human Rights Law Network, INTERIGHTS and the National Health
Systems Resource Centre in India. She has published and trained on various human
rights issues and contributed to signifi cant legal reform processes in the areas of
health rights and gender rights.
Luana PEREIRA DA COSTA
Themis – Gender, Justice and Human Rights l Brazil
Luana is a lawyer and works as a legal assistant at Themis
– Gender, Justice and Human Rights. Her focus is on streng-
thening the capacity of women to fi ght against domestic
violence and gender-based violence through legal empowerment
and popular and feminist legal literacy. During the last 24
years, Themis has been training female community leaders in women’s human
rights, to become Promotoras Legais Populares (PLPs), and be legally and politically
empowered to act in their communities in the defense of the rights of women and
girls. In addition, Luana coordinates the Project PLP 2.0, a mobile application that
creates a network of protection for women in situations of violence, offering a faster
and more effective response from police, and connecting these women to PLPs in
their neighborhoods.
Alfi ana QISTHI
Persaudaraan Korban Napza l Indonesia
Alfi ana is a legal advocacy offi cer at Persaudaraan Korban
Napza Indonesia (PKNI), a national network of organizations
that focuses on combating stigma, discrimination and
human rights violations against people who use drugs. She
graduated from the University of Indonesia, majoring in
public international law. With a passion for human rights advocacy, she started out
as a public interest lawyer assistant at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, where she
was engaged in research and community empowerment activities. At PKNI, she is
responsible for advocating drug policy reform and supervising community paralegal
programs.
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s Choky RISDA RAMADHAN
Indonesia Judicial Monitoring Society l Indonesia
Choky is the executive director of the Indonesia Judicial
Monitoring Society (MaPPI) at the University of Indonesia,
where he is also a lecturer at the Faculty of Law. He has been
working on issues related to anti-corruption, judicial reform
and criminal justice reform since 2010. Choky has published
several articles and books regarding these topics. He has a bachelor’s degree in law
from the University of Indonesia and master’s degree in Asian and comparative law
from the University of Washington.
Birendra Raj SHARMA POKHAREL
Action on Disability Rights and Development l Nepal
Birendra is a human rights expert with over two decades of
experience working as an independent consultant for the
inclusion of persons with disabilities. He is currently the
chairperson of the Action on Disability Rights and Development
(ADRAD) in Nepal, an organization which engages in legal
capacity building and promotes access to justice for persons with disabilities and ICT
accessibility. Birendra has written extensively on the subject as part of his doctoral
studies at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu.
Jaspreet Kalra SINGH KALRA
International Center for Advocates Against
Discrimination l United States
Jaspreet is the co-founder of the International Center for Advo-
cates Against Discrimination (ICAAD), a nonprofi t organization
that uses data-driven solutions to uncover, understand and undo
systemic discrimination. ICAAD brings together passionate
multidisciplinary teams of lawyers, data scientists, universities and design strategists
to improve access to justice for women, girls and vulnerable communities, while
strengthening the capacity of local organizations and government. Jaspreet’s
experience includes creating evidence-based advocacy campaigns, creating techno-
logy for data collection and automated analysis, reporting and consultations with the
UN human rights system and strategic federal appellate litigation.
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sSaurabh SOOD
Sehgal Foundation l India
Saurabh works as a senior research associate within the
Development Research and Policy Initiatives program of the
Sehgal Foundation in India. He holds a master’s degree in
sustainable development practice from TERI University in New
Delhi, and is currently conducting research on the processes of
legal empowerment and its linkages with good rural governance. He has extensive fi eld
experience working with rural communities across multiple states in India, and has
been involved in developing climate adaptation strategies, household water treatment
systems, research methodology and needs assessment. Saurabh is also pursuing a
post-graduate degree in public policy and through his research work he aims to assist
policymakers in making informed decisions and advocate positive policy change.
Marbre STAHLY-BUTTS
Law for Black Lives l United States
Marbre currently serves on the leadership team of the Movement
for Black Lives Policy Table. Since graduating from Yale Law
School, she has supported local and national organizations
from across the country in their policy development and
advocacy efforts, and has helped develop the Vision for Black
Lives policy platform. She joined the Center for Popular Democracy as a Soros
Justice Fellow in 2013, and worked with families affected by aggressive policing and
criminal justice policies in New York City in order to develop meaningful bottom-up
policy reforms. Previously, Marbre focused on the intersection of criminal justice and
civil rights, and gained legal experience interning at the Bronx Defenders, the Equal
Justice Initiative and the Prison Policy Initiative. She received her master’s degree in
African studies from Oxford University.
Ivona STALEVSKA
Foundation Open Society l Macedonia
Ivona is a program coordinator at the Foundation Open Society–
Macedonia. She is primarily involved in activities related to
strengthening the capacity of Roma to exercise their health
rights. In cooperation with OSF’s Public Health Program, her
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s team provides legal and paralegal assistance in eight Roma communities, monitors
the quality of delivered services related to immunization and antenatal care and
organizes trainings on the use of media in combating negative perceptions of Roma.
Ivona is trained in strategic litigation and is experienced in the effective enforcement
of international mechanisms for the protection of human rights in health care.
Enkhtsetseg SUKHBAATAR
National Legal Institute l Mongolia
Enkhtsetseg is the director of the National Legal Institute of
Mongolia. Prior to her current role, she was head of arbitration
at the Ulaanbaatar Chamber of Commerce between 2015
and 2016, head of division at the Financial Regulatory
Commission between 2012 and 2015 and senior offi cer at the
Legal Policy Department of the Ministry of Justice. She is currently pursuing a PhD
in law enforcement at the University of Mongolia. At the National Legal Institute, she
is in charge of managing and supporting public legal education programs, organizing
legal trainings and raising awareness on human rights.
Marek SZILVASI
Open Society Public Health Program l Slovakia
Marek works as a program offi cer at the Health Law and
Equality Division of OSF’s Public Health Program. Previously,
he worked as head of research and human rights education
at the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and at the
Secretariat of the European Sociological Association (ESA).
Marek received his PhD in sociology from the University of Aberdeen in the UK
and has an MA in sociology and philosophy from the Palacký University Olomouc
in the Czech Republic as well as an MA in European studies (Europe in the Wider
World) from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Marek has taught at
the Institute of Politics and International Studies at ELTE University in Budapest
and has been awarded the Martin Alexandersson Research Scholarship of the Raoul
Wallenberg Institute and the CAS-SEE/University of Rijeka Fellowship for 2017. He
is also a board member of the PAD Foundation advocating environmental justice in
Central Eastern Europe.
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sCecilia TUCKER
Legal Aid Board l Sierra Leone
Cecilia is the legal aid manager of the Legal Aid Board in
Sierra Leone. She completed her undergraduate studies at
Fourah Bay College in 2004 and went on to study law at the
same university. She was called to the Bar in 2010. As a pupil
barrister, she was associated with M.S, Turay & Associates as
well as Preston Chambers in Freetown. She later joined the Legal Aid Board - Sierra
Leone as a legal analyst and defense counsel, and was appointed to her current
role on 2010. As a legal aid manager, she exercises a supervisory role over lawyers,
paralegals and other staff members, and is responsible for leading trainings on
community justice.
Vidya VISWANATHAN
Namati l India
Vidya is originally from Kerala, but was born and raised in
Delhi. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the
University of Delhi and worked as a strategy consultant in the
corporate sector for three years. During this period, she spent
her weekends volunteering at a homeless shelter and was part
of a theater group that created productions on socially relevant issues. It was then that
she decided to use her skills in the development sector. Subsequently, she completed
a master’s degree in social work at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai.
She has worked with communities on land rights, sustainable livelihood programs,
labor rights and environmental conservation. Vidya is also a part of a Delhi-based
theater group which organizes street plays and stage plays on socially relevant themes.
Haya ZAHID
Legal Aid Offi ce l Pakistan
Haya left a promising career as a corporate lawyer to work
for the Legal Aid Offi ce (LAO), a quasi-governmental entity
which provides legal aid services to underprivileged, pre-trial
prisoners in the southern province of Sindh in Pakistan. She
introduced the fi rst prison paralegal program in Pakistan which
has trained over 800 prisoners to date and has a keen interest in expanding legal
literacy inside prisons. In addition to her role as executive director of LAO, Haya
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s is also the director of the Legal Aid Society, an NGO that works to enhance the
legal empowerment of marginalized women, children and minorities through raising
awareness, facilitation, capacity enhancement and policy work. Haya studied law
at University College London and completed the City Law School’s Bar Vocational
Course in 2009. She was an Acumen Pakistan fellow in 2015 and is currently an
Australia Awards Fellow at the Australian National University. Her research interests
include legal needs mapping, confl ict confi guration and countering violent extremism
inside prisons.
Neda ZDRAVEVA
Legal Aid Offi ce l Macedonia
Neda is an associate professor and a vice dean for education
at the Iustinianus Primus Law Faculty of SS. Cyril and
Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia. She teaches an
undergraduate-level course on law of obligations as well as
master’s level courses on contract law, tort law, consumer law
and intellectual property law. Neda defended her doctoral thesis in the fi eld of tort
law in 2012 and carried out post-doctoral research on civil liability for discrimination
at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland between 2013 and 2014. She is
currently a coordinator at the Legal Clinic for Marginalized and Vulnerable Groups,
an organization that provides assistance in particular to socially vulnerable persons,
sex workers and the Roma and LGBT community. She is also secretary general of the
Centre for South East European Law School Network (SEELS).
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CEU STUDENT PARTICIPANTS
Maha ALI
Central European University l Pakistan
Maha holds a bachelor’s degree in law and policy from Lahore
University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan. Her
research interests lie mainly in human rights, gender and
international justice. During her undergraduate degree, she
interned and conducted research for a number of law fi rms and
human rights organizations in Pakistan. Upon graduation, she joined the Sindh Human
Rights Commission, Government of Sindh, as an advocacy and communications
consultant. During this time, she represented the provincial government at various
conferences on gender-based violence, legislation, legal and policy advocacy,
while conducting research and providing recommendations for closing lacunae in
provincial laws on gender-based violence. Later, she worked as a legal analyst for the
Chief Minister Punjab’s Offi ce (Strategic Reforms Unit) where she drafted the Punjab
Women Protection Authority Act, 2017, and the Punjab Shehr-e-Khamoshan Authority
Act, 2017. She also initiated work on the Punjab Senior Citizen’s Rehabilitation Bill,
which is currently being vetted by relevant provincial government departments. Maha
was one of a handful of people responsible for the implementation of the Violence
Against Women Center established in Pakistan in March 2017, which is the fi rst of
its kind in South Asia. She is currently pursuing her LLM degree in Human Rights
Law, with a specialization in international justice, at CEU.
Nikhil DUBEY
Central European University l India
Nikhil is a student of public policy at the CEU School of
Public Policy and a recipient of CEU’s Master’s Excellence
Scholarship. Prior to his arrival in Budapest, he worked as a
policy assistant to a Member of Parliament in India where he
prepared questions to be asked in the house and compiled
research for matters to be discussed in committees. Nikhil completed his bachelor’s
in industrial relations, economics and sociology from St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore.
Thereafter, he pursued a master’s degree in development studies at Ambedkar
University, Delhi. He has been a research intern at the Nobel peace prize winning
organization, Grameen Bank, in Bangladesh. He also rendered his services for an
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s impact evaluation project funded by the Global Sanitation Fund in the states of
Jharkhand and Bihar in India. Apart from his academic engagements, Nikhil has
delivered lectures in over 80 schools in the city of Gwalior in India on the importance
of legal education. He has also served as the content analyst at a leading private
education enterprise in India preparing pedagogical tools for future lawyers.
Hope LOUDON
Central European University l United States
Hope is an activist and writer who holds a bachelor’s of
international affairs from the University of Nevada, Reno. She
specializes in the little-known women’s and children’s rights
issue of court licensed abuse (children being placed in the
custody of domestic abusers by courts). She has a strong
interest in trauma-sensitive peace and reconciliation involving transitional and
restorative justice. She is presently pursuing her Master of Public Policy at CEU.
Jacob MCGREW
Central European University l United States
Jake is currently in the second year of a two-year Master of
Public Administration program at CEU’s School of Public
Policy. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics
from the University of Oregon, Jake spent three years teaching
English and facilitating project design and management
in Northwest Ukraine as a Peace Corps volunteer. Last summer, he worked again
in Western Ukraine as a Local Economic and Community Development intern
with the DOBRE (Decentralization Offering Better Results and Effi ciency) project.
After graduation, Jake hopes to work in the fi eld of local economic and community
development in Central or Eastern Europe.
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COURSE STAFF
Zsanett BORSOS
Open Society Justice Initiative l Hungary
Zsanett is the program associate for the legal empowerment
project of the Open Society Justice Initiative. Based in OSF’s
Budapest offi ce, Zsanett received her bachelor’s degree in
international relations and history from Western Maryland
College and her master’s degree in Arab Gulf studies at the
University of Exeter. Zsanett previously worked as a personal assistant to the CEO
of the Hungarian subsidiary of a multinational corporation. She has interned with
the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in the United States and the
European Roma Rights Centre and the International Center for Not-for-Profi t Law,
both located in Budapest.
Erin KITCHELL
Namati l United States
Erin is the manager of Global Learning and Practice at Namati.
In this role, Erin leads efforts to generate comparative learning
on legal empowerment methods and to document evidence of
impact. Erin works closely with program teams to design and
test innovative models of program delivery. She has experience
managing large-scale action research projects and building grassroots organizations’
capacity to use program data for iterative learning. Before joining Namati, Erin
spent ten years working on environmental and health issues in West Africa. She has
conducted research on land rights and climate change in Senegal and Mali for the
World Bank, USAID, and the Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute (ISRA). She
is completing her PhD in Geography on pastoral land rights and confl ict management.
Erin formerly served as Executive Director of Mali Health, a grassroots NGO dedicated
to improving maternal and child health in peri-urban areas.
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Bio
gra
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s Bernhard KNOLL-TUDOR
CEU School of Public Policy, Global Policy Academy
l Austria
Prior to his appointment as director of the CEU School of
Public Policy’s Global Policy Academy, Bernhard worked for the
OSCE, an international organization devoted to “hard” security
as well as to human rights diplomacy. He was involved in policy
design and public relations, both at the level of fi eld missions (Sarajevo, 1999–
2000; Prishtina, 2000–2002) and at the OSCE Offi ce for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw (special advisor to the director, 2006–
2012). He has held positions at the European Union Monitoring Mission (deputy
head, Political and Information Division, Bosnia & Herzegovina, 1998); the United
Nations Administration Mission in Kosovo (acting Temporary Media Commissioner,
2003), and with the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Political Directorate, desk
offi cer for EU accession countries, 2005–2006). Bernhard earned a master in law
at the University of Vienna and an MA in international relations and economics at
Johns Hopkins/SAIS with a focus on IR theory (Bologna and Washington, D.C.). He
obtained his PhD from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and is
the author of Legal Status of Territories Subject to Administration of International
Organisations (Cambridge University Press, 2008). He teaches SPP’s course in
public international law.
Tanja K. MANNERS
CEU School of Public Policy, Global Policy Academy
l United States/Slovenia
Tanja is the senior program manager at SPP’s Global Policy
Academy. She has spent the past decade working in education
both in front of the classroom and behind the scenes, teaching
mathematics in Micronesia and Austria and working in
administration at the Institute of Education, University College London, and King’s
College London. She has a degree in applied mathematics from Brown University
and a master’s degree in comparative education from the Institute of Education of
the University of London. She moved to Hungary in 2015 after spending a year as an
education consultant in Shanghai.
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59
Livia MARSCHALL
CEU School of Public Policy, Global Policy Academy l
Hungary
Livia joined CEU as a program assistant at the Roma Access
Programs Unit in 2014. She was appointed to her present
role as part-time program coordinator at SPP’s Global Policy
Academy in 2015. She holds an MA in cultural anthropology
and English language and literature from Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in
Budapest. During her university years, she conducted fi eldwork in a Hungarian Roma
community and has participated in various Roma advocacy projects. Livia is also
currently working as a curator at Gallery8—Roma Contemporary Art Space.
Michael OTTO
Namati l United States
Michael is Namati’s global network offi cer, having worked in
access to justice, legal education and development since 2004,
where he began building legal clinics and paralegal programs
throughout Southeast Asia with Bridges Across Borders. In
Cambodia, he managed the Community Empowerment and
Legal Awareness Program, supporting grassroots advocates through participatory
curriculum development, legal rights training, and advocacy campaigns. Michael has
also worked with Equal Access International in London and Nepal and has served
as a founding board member of Tiny Toones in Cambodia, a non-profi t working with
at-risk youth through arts, dance, and education, since 2007. Michael holds a BA
in legal studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an MSC in Violence,
Confl ict and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University
of London, and is a certifi ed mediator.
Ostalinda Maya OVALLE
Open Society Justice Initiative l Hungary
Ostalinda is a policy offi cer at the Open Society Justice
Initiative focusing on legal empowerment of Roma and the
implementation of antidiscrimination norms, particularly
developing and supporting leadership within communities. For
over 10 years, Maya has worked with Roma across Europe to
60
Bio
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s challenge discrimination. Previously, she was an advocacy coordinator at the European
Roma Rights Centre, where she led projects to tackle the overrepresentation of Roma
children in child protection systems, combat human traffi cking, and advocate for the
rights of Roma women to education, employment, health care, and protection against
violence. She has also been involved in grassroots work on education and health in
Mexico and Kosovo. Maya holds a degree in social anthropology and development
from the University of Sussex and a postgraduate law diploma from the University of
Law, United Kingdom.
Ilona PUSKAS
CEU School of Public Policy, Global Policy Academy l
Hungary
Ilona is the events manager at SPP’s Global Policy Academy
and has a background in cultural project management. As
a devoted communications professional, Ilona liaises with
creative practitioners, the business sector, and the media.
Involved in contemporary fi ne art, she has been researching the role of the curator
in facilitating sustainability and solidarity in curatorial praxis. She earned an MA in
art and design management from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design and
a BA in communication and media studies (specialization in journalism) from Eötvös
Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest.
Ashley VAN WAES
Namati l United States
Ashley is a program associate in Namati’s Global Network
Team. Originally from Blair, Nebraska, she has worked on
human rights issues across the United States, Africa, and
Latin America. She received her bachelor’s degree cum laude
at the University of Nebraska with a focus on international
business and economics. Previously she worked for the International Association for
Feminist Economics, the American Red Cross, and Women’s Micro-fi nance Initiative.
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Open Society Justice Initiative
The Open Society Justice Initiative uses law to protect and empower
people around the world, supporting the values and work of the Open
Society Foundations. Through litigation, advocacy, research, and tech-
nical assistance, we strive to secure legal remedies for human rights
abuses and promote effective enforcement of the rule of law. Justice
Initiative lawyers have represented scores of individuals before domestic
and international courts, in cases that have sought not only to vindicate
individual claims, but to establish and strengthen the law’s protection
for all. The Justice Initiative documents violations, proposes solutions,
engages policy-makers, and offers assistance that draws on our global
legal experience. Its efforts focus on accountability for international
crimes, racial discrimination and statelessness, criminal justice reform,
abuses related to national security and counterterrorism, the promotion
of freedom of information and expression, and combating natural
resource-related corruption.
Namati
In a world where billions of people live outside the protection of the
law, Namati is building a global movement of grassroots legal advocates
who work with communities to advance justice. Trained in basic law
and in skills like mediation, organizing, education, and advocacy, these
“community paralegals” form a dynamic, creative frontline that can
engage formal and traditional institutions alike. Across the world, they
are empowering people to protect their land, access essential services,
and take part in the decisions that govern their lives. Namati has built
paralegal efforts with local partner organizations in eight countries.
We collect data rigorously on every case and use that information to
advocate for systemic, large-scale reforms. Namati hosts a network of
500 organizations from every region in the world, and is fostering greater
learning and collaboration among these groups. Together, we are growing
a mature global fi eld around legal empowerment.
62
Org
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ers Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, NYU School of Law
Honoring and extending the legacy of Robert L. Bernstein, the Bernstein
Institute for Human Rights at NYU School of Law promotes cutting-
edge research, education, and advocacy on human rights issues around
the world, with a focus on defending dissent and advancing legal
empowerment. The Institute embraces a holistic approach to human
rights, deepening engagement with key stakeholders in the pursuit
of justice: law students, human rights defenders, scholars, judges,
interdisciplinary allies, and affected communities. The Institute also
supports other human rights initiatives at the Law School and University
and acts as the coordinating hub for existing human rights work at NYU,
including the Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, the US–Asia
Law Institute, and NYU Stern’s Center for Business and Human Rights.
CEU School of Public Policy, Global Policy Academy
SPP’s Global Policy Academy (GPA) organizes academically rigorous
and policy-relevant courses that are designed not as traditional training
seminars but as hubs for sectoral dialogue and experience exchange.
The Academy leverages the broad and deep expertise of SPP faculty
to address the needs of policy professionals who wish to broaden their
knowledge as they serve the public good. Participants from the public,
2016 Legal Empowerment Leadership Course
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63
private, and non-profi t sectors enroll in GPA courses to gain relevant
practice-oriented skills grounded in research-based knowledge. They
also take advantage of the School’s global reach to grow and enrich their
professional networks in an exceptional learning environmen t.
64
Note
s
Open Society Justice Initiative
224 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019, USA
Phone: +1 212 548 0600
https://www.justiceinitiative.org
Namati Global
1710 Rhode Island Ave NW, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20036, USA
Phone: +1 202 888 1086
https://namati.org/
School of Public Policy at Central European University
Nádor utca 9, H–1051 Budapest, Hungary
Phone/Fax: +36 1 327 3110
Email: [email protected]
http://spp.ceu.edu
Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights,
NYU School of Law
139 MacDougal Street, B22
New York, New York 10012, USA
Email: [email protected]
http://www.law.nyu.edu
Copyright @ SPP 2017. All rights reserved.
Design, layout: Judit Kovács l Createch Ltd.
Cover photo, photo on pages 2, 4: Aubrey Wade
Photo on page 7: Gabriel Diamond
Photos on pages 10, 13 (bottom), 16, 20, 62, 63: Daniel Vegel
Photo on page 24: Carlos Osorio l Getty
Photo on pages 25: School of Public Policy