Alternative social institutions
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Establishing Independent Monitoring Boards for prisons to ensure humane and just treatment

The Independent Monitoring Board in England and Wales (IMB) is not a pressure group but a constant presence in a prison, independent of the Governor, staff and prisoners, monitoring that the prison is being run according to the rules.  The IMB consists of a group of lay people living locally to a prison who are appointed by the Minister for Prisons to go into the prison, unannounced, at an

Creating a child board and village child protection networks to combat child abuse and trafficking

At the beginning of 2005, Enfants & Developpement (E&D) set up a Participatory Child Protection Project in 6 communes covering 126 villages.

Involving the community in deciding offenders’ sentences and helping rehabilitate them

Peacemaking circles use traditional circle ritual and structure to create a respectful space in which all interested community members, victim, victim supporters, offender, offender supporters, judge, prosecutor, defense counsel, police and court workers can speak openly in a shared search for understanding of a crime and to identify the steps necessary to assist in healing all affected parties

Creating a public forum where the police and ordinary citizens can work together to resolve grievances

The CLEEN Foundation, formally Centre for Law Enforcement Education in Nigeria, created public forums where citizens and police can discuss concerns and grievances regarding crime and police conduct.

Organizing summer camps to offer children a reprieve from violence

The Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (TRC) in Ramallah, in the West Bank, organizes a free summer camp to rehabilitate traumatized children. The camp offers recreational, artistic, and rehabilitative activities intended to help children deal with their personal traumas and fears, and support one another.

Adopting international human rights conventions at the local level to improve women's rights

The Women's Institute for Leadership Development for Human Rights used the United Nations Convention to End Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to advocate for human rights at the local level.  Although CEDAW has not been ratified by the United States and thus cannot be invoked, WILD for Human Rights decided to apply it at the local level, in San Francisco, as a tool to combat issues such as discrimination and domestic violence.  They implemented CEDAW as a legislated municipal law with the exact wording of CEDAW; thus making it binding legally. 

Creating a Human Rights City / Community

Since 1998 PDHRE is facilitating the development of Human Rights Cities. These cities pledge to create a community in which all members, from policy makers to ordinary citizens, learn about and adhere to human rights obligations. Women and men across all sections of the city learn to understand human rights as a way of life with its political, moral and legal implications.

Building collaborative partnerships to develop a Local Housing Board

In Cebu City, more than 70% of the population is classified as urban poor. A group of Non-Government Organizations with programs and services for the urban poor organizations bonded together and worked with urban poor groups to create an alliance, Task Force Tawhanong Pagpuyo (TFT), to respond to the growing numbers of victims who experienced evictions and demolitions of their houses. TFT presented and advocated for alternatives to government development plans that involved wholesale demolition with no alternative relocation sites. TFT organized a conference of urban poor leaders to identify issues and alternative solutions and followed this with research and case studies. These materials were presented to the local government and housing agencies.  Simultaneously, training was conducted for judges who issue the demolition and eviction orders. The alliance succeeded in developing and getting representatives on to a local housing board and assisted in preparing a comprehensive shelter plan for the city.  As a result, guidelines for demolition and eviction were adopted and judges now coordinate with the local housing board to ensure compliance. The number of demolitions and evictions was substantially reduced and when they did occur, relocation sites were identified in advance.

Creating alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to prevent the involvement of the police

The Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT) in Nepal created a process of community mediation as an alternative to the criminal justice system. This keeps some people from being needlessly arrested and brought to police stations, where 60 percent of prisoners are tortured into giving confessions.