Week 8 - Diamonds are Everyone's Best Friend
A little late getting to this week! Once things start winding down, you realize how much you still have left to do. There are the rounds of meeting with friends and family, buying gifts for people back home, and finding that last minute reservation at that restaurant you have been meaning to try. Oh, did I mention that we have to start applying for next summer jobs already? Just thought I would say that again.
This week, I mainly focused on trying to secure funding for IBJ India. Again, I may be repeating myself, but it has become really evident from my time here how much money is needed to keep projects like this alive and thriving. IBJ India was established in 2008, but it has only been funded for half that time. Since 2014, the India office has gotten little to no funding, and operates solely on goodwill and diligent volunteers coming in.
The country director, Ajay Verma, has built many partnerships through his years as a lawyer and human rights advocate. He makes sure that these connections remain solid through continuous support and inclusion; because of that, IBJ can still organize and participate in events that can further the conversation regarding criminal justice in this country. It was because of his persistence in keeping these channels alive that all the interns were able to enter the prisons in Delhi in an official capacity. Usually, such an ask would take weeks to clear, but I was able to attend legal awareness camps by the middle of my second week. People may scoff when career services talks about the importance of networking, but I now see how vital it is to keeping organizations like IBJ afloat.
With help from fellow CLSS Intern Shaun Goodfriend in the Geneva office, we sent a grant application out to the Clifford Chance Foundation, which funded IBJ India at its inception. The Foundation helped build the foundation (sorry) for IBJ to branch into India and start its mission there. This week, we applied for an award from the International Corrections & Prisons Association for our work in implement the Gem & Jewelry Skill Development Program in Delhi Prisons. By partnering with the Gem & Jewelry Skill Council of India (GJSCI) and Delhi Prisons, IBJ aims to provide inmates with a tangible skill to take with them once released.
In India, the jewelry industry is one of the largest and most labor-intensive sectors of the economy. It employs almost 5 million workers and is 7% of the nation’s GDP. It is a still growing market – presently, India contributes 29% of global jewelry consumption, and that number is still rising. India is also the largest exporter of polished and cut diamonds. Keep that in mind when you go shopping for that next anniversary present. Prominent jewelers in India are their own kind of celebrity, operating vast networks of gem and precious metal distribution across the world. Stepping into a jeweler’s shop here is a unique experience – I would equate it to a day at the spa. They pamper you into oblivion, until you buy that diamond necklace you’ve been eyeing.
Due to this quickly growing economy, there is also a steady demand for skilled laborers to enter the industry. IBJ’s Skill Development Program aims to train inmates of all backgrounds in various forms of jewelry design and production. Too often, people are released from prison with no viable employment opportunities, and limited resources to get back on their feet. As a result, it becomes easy for them to fall back into the cycle of crime and incarceration. IBJ wants a better life for these people – a path to truly reintegrate into society. During the three-year program, IBJ hopes to train close to 80,000 workers; the GJSCI also promises to help these people find stable employment upon release.
This program would not have been possible without the networking prowess IBJ employs. We are also now using that power to try and affect change at the policy level. A few weeks ago, I mentioned a PIL (public interest litigation) suit that IBJ filed on behalf of prisoners that were still imprisoned after being granted bail. That case, filed in the Delhi High Court, has facilitated the release of over 350 people, and may lead to a number of the lesser cases being dropped as well. IBJ has now encountered two similar cases through networking at our national training event earlier this month. These PILs, one in Bombay and one in Hyderabad, are also fighting for the release of people who have already been granted bail.
Our plan is to collaborate, compile the data and stories from prisoners across these three cities, and file a suit with the Supreme Court to bring this issue to a national forum. With the large backlog of cases only growing, there is going to be a point where the dam breaks, and the system stops to work altogether. Removing bailable and lesser offences from the docket, in a type of amnesty program, may just be a stopgap solution. A bucket bailing (sorry) out the water as it pours down. But it also serves as a call to action. It can give prisoners across the country some hope that it won’t be an indefinite stay in the dark. And all of this was made possible by the power of networking! Remember that the next time you hesitate to reach out to an old colleague or skip that cocktail event.