IDLO’s new Strategic Plan 2021-2024 is anchored in the 2030 Agenda and reflects IDLO’s approach to the rule of law as both an outcome and enabler of peace and sustainable development. It recognizes, and seeks to advance, the interdependence and mutually reinforcing connection between human rights, democratic governance and the rule of law.
Despite widespread acknowledgement of its crucial enabling role, there has been a sharp deterioration in several dimensions of the rule of law since the 2030 Agenda was adopted. This includes an increase in violence and armed conflict, large-scale humanitarian crises, growing authoritarianism, rising inequalities, intolerance and social tensions. The rule of law is further threatened by mounting pressure on international norms and standards, and attacks on human rights, the independence of the judiciary and on civil society.
As the only global intergovernmental organization exclusively devoted to promoting the rule of law as an enabler of peace, sustainable development and human rights, IDLO’s mandate has rarely been more relevant or more needed than in this moment of crisis.
COVID-19 has exacerbated these trends and has the potential to further aggravate them dramatically. The pandemic encountered a deeply divided and unequal world, faced with a set of pre-existing, interrelated challenges including climate change, entrenched conflict and technological transformation. At the same time, by bringing our shared fragility into such sharp focus, the pandemic has made our largest challenges impossible to ignore. For this reason, the crisis also presents a unique opportunity to reexamine assumptions, raise ambitions, and reorient the world towards a more just, peaceful and sustainable future.
Putting justice and the rule of law at the heart of response and recovery efforts will enable policy makers to act quickly and effectively while respecting and protecting human rights. It will ensure that those in the most vulnerable situations can access health and social services – including life-saving prevention, treatment and care – and the protection of the law. It can safeguard hard-won gains on peace and development while laying the foundation for Building Back Better.
Based on the concept of ‘people-centered justice’, the Plan seeks to empower justice seekers and emphasizes that justice systems must be built around a better understanding of people’s needs and human rights. Through the prism of SDGs 16 and 5, it also seeks to advance the contribution of the rule of law as an essential driver for sustaining peace and safeguarding and accelerating progress on the 2030 Agenda.
