OVERVIEW
The USAID-funded Legal Support Program (LSP) in Tajikistan promotes an enabling legal framework for civil society, raises awareness of citizen’s legal rights, and supports a justice sector responsive to citizen needs. This two-year program is implemented by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), in partnership with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI).
OUR WORK
Laws and regulations enabling and protecting civil society organizations (CSOs) are essential to building a strong civil society that supports national stability and citizens prosperity. Citizens who are aware of their legal rights and have access to a justice system that is responsive to their needs will have more trust in the system overall, thereby strengthening the rule of law and democratic norms. The Legal Support Program builds upon long-term relationships with key stakeholders established by ICNL and ABA ROLI programs in Tajikistan over the last two decades. The Program also shares global expertise in CSO-related legislation and supports the justice sector actors to strengthen their capacity to more effectively respond to citizen needs.
PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The LSP’s overarching goal is to support a more robust civil society that can better protect citizen’s rights with a focus on vulnerable and marginalized persons and to increase the responsiveness of the justice sector in Tajikistan to better serve their needs. LSP focuses its support to CSOs serving persons with disabilities, disadvantaged women and migrants and their families and has selected through a competitive process 40 CSOs from across Tajikistan who serve these communities. LSP addresses program goals through three objectives and implements activities based on assessments informing each objective.
- Improved compliance with a legal enabling environment for civil society to effectively engage, monitor, and advocate in public policy development – Since program inception ICNL-trained lawyers have provided more than 2,000 consultations and 12 intensive legal audits to civil society organizations on issues related to registration, labor law, and tax compliance helping CSOs across Tajikistan comply with legal obligations.
ICNL and its partners have supported the Ombudsman’s office to hold public awareness sessions on the recently enacted Non-Discrimination Law across Tajikistan for local government officials and civil society. In May 2023, ICNL is supporting the Ombudsman and civil society representatives to travel to Croatia to learn from their experience implementing a similar non-discrimination law.
- Enhanced civil society role in legal empowerment of citizens through legal awareness, advocacy and participation to use laws to find solutions to their legal problems – in March 2023, LSP has awarded six grants to 11 CSOs across Tajikistan that aim to:
- raise awareness of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and gender equality law addressing stereotypes around women in conversations with multiple audiences and platforms;
- address issues or gender discrimination for women farm workers;
- raise citizen awareness around rights to appeal especially for Persons with Disabilities (PWD); and,
- assess challenges and develop recommendations to help women in remote regions of Tajikistan access healthcare.
- Improved professional competence of the judiciary, legal profession, and lawmakers to provide more effective and responsive services and advance women’s participation in the justice sector – ABA ROLI has supported the Union of Advocates and State Agency for Legal Aid (SALAC) to engage in monitoring the effectiveness of the legal aid law by holding focus groups with advocates, state lawyers, representatives of the local government bodies, and public assistants. The results and recommendations from these productive discussions will be provided to the leadership in each institution to improve implementation of the Law on Legal Aid.
ABA ROLI is supporting the Supreme Court to develop first-ever content for a new Online Learning Platform that will enable judges from all regions of Tajikistan to participate in workshops on new legislation or specialized areas of the law. Topics include common issues in family law cases and international and national norms of judicial ethics.
