Many Different Projects
Over the past couple of weeks, the workload at IBJ has died down a bit because we finally finished the AA2J launch and are transitioning into other projects. Therefore, I have been dabbling in a couple of different projects including, continuing to be a liaison for Rwanda’s AA2J fellow, lawyer2lawyer, the new women’s webpage, applying for a NICRA grant, and case tracking for Rwanda Bridges to Justice (RBJ).
In continuing to be a country liaison for Rwanda’s AA2J fellow, I have been in contact with her to ensure the fellow and her team members get onto JusticeHub properly. JusticeHub is an online platform that creates conversations and reflects on conversations about accountability and access to justice. International Bridges to Justice has its own webpage on JusticeHub where they discuss its many projects. Thus, the women fellows from AA2J need to create accounts to discuss and post about their personal projects.
I am also working with a team to get the lawyer2lawyer project up and going. The lawyer2lawyer project is a project IBJ has been working on but has not gotten very far with. The project entails contacting law firms and law schools to inform them of IBJ and the pro-bono opportunities lawyers and future lawyers can take on with IBJ. We are in the organizing phase now but hope to start contacting people soon.
Moreover, I have been contacting IBJ project managers from across the world to gather stories about women in conflict with the law for IBJ’s new women’s webpage. I have contacted project managers from Burundi, Cambodia, China, DRC, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Zimbabwe. Stories can be success stories, ongoing stories, and stories of injustices. The stories have been very compelling and should be able to muster more support for IBJ once the women’s page is up and running.
Furthermore, the other William and Mary interns and I have been working closely with office managers in Geneva to help IBJ apply for a NICRA grant from the USAID. A couple of weeks ago we researched what the NICRA grant is and what applying entails. Then, we had a meeting with the managers of IBJ to discuss the next steps. After the meeting, we have researched definitions of unclear terms and are hoping to start gathering the materials for the application packet soon.
Lastly, I have been working on an excel sheet for RBJ tracking different cases for a particular criminal defense lawyer. The excel sheet tracks the age of the arrestee, the arrestee’s place of residence, the crime committed, how long they were in police custody before receiving counsel, and the outcome of the case. I am particularly tracking cases where the arrestee was a woman.
In conclusion, interning with IBJ this summer has been very interesting. I have enjoyed contacting people from across the globe, managing the difficulties of working over zoom and WhatsApp with people in different time zones and balancing working for IBJ’s Geneva office and RBJ in Rwanda.