This project responds to the long-overdue need to create a new social contract on justice in Guinea. Severe dysfunction in the judicial system over the long term has created a series of inter-related problems, two of which will be addressed by this project. First, civil society organizations (CSOs) have a lack of basic knowledge about and capacity for advocacy, monitoring and judicial oversight. Second, there is no institutionalized mechanism to facilitate much-needed dialogue and collaboration between CSOs and the judiciary. If these challenges are not effectively addressed, the success of the broader judicial reform process will be significantly impeded.
The project objective is to create a stronger voice for civil society interests within the broader judicial reform process currently underway in Guinea. The key mechanism for facilitating this process is to establish an inclusive and representative joint civil society-judicial platform for judicial reform. To achieve optimal success, Year 1 of the project focuses on targeted capacity building (basic knowledge and skills development) for civil society leaders, magistrates and key judiciary personnel. Year 2 of the project aims to operationalize these enhanced capacities through ongoing relationship building, dialogue and collaboration for joint civil societyjudiciary action. Project activities are focused on Conakry and Kankan, which are two key judicial centers in Guinea. A number of relevant civil society organizations are also clustered in these two locations.
The overall approach for achieving the project objective is to establish effective linkages between strong public support, committed political will and collaborative capacities, the strategic combination of which can lay the primary foundations for a successful process. The project strategy is designed to facilitate a participatory process of capacity building, dialogue, learning, empowerment and relationship building that is driven by participant needs as they identify these themselves. While the project prioritizes civil society, its scope extends beyond the grassroots level and targets magistrates and key judiciary personnel in order to have a larger impact on national laws and institutions through the joint civil society-judiciary platform for judicial reform. Active in Guinea since 2008, the BEFORE Project has extensive experience with this approach to promoting change in dynamic and fluid environments, as is currently the case with the judicial reform process in Guinea. Implementing Partners are 1) Regional Council of Civil Society Organizations (CROSC), Kankan local branch office of the National Council of Civil Society Organizations (CNOSCG); and 2) the Association of Magistrates of Guinea, which is headquartered in Conakry.