II. La Première Semaine
The first day
Working at IBJ requires everyone to collaborate together on projects, especially among the interns. Almost all IBJ employees have an area of expertise (finance, communications, outreach, marketing, law, etc.) but nearly everyone is at least competent in all of the above areas. Each project has so many moving parts that they often require everyone to chip in. Since IBJ is mostly funded through grants, a large part of the office is unfortunately made up of unpaid interns who often do much of the leg work. Several of the interns are European and speak French and English, so some interns work on translating documents received from the francophone countries IBJ works in, including DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda. Other interns work on the eLearning Modules that IBJ creates to train attorneys on the law in a particular country. But there are constantly other projects to work on, like researching grants to apply for, preparing for meetings, proofreading drafts, collaborating on a project... the list goes on.
The first day of work was bustling with excitement; it was the first day back for the entire office after a long weekend. Abi and I were assigned the same project to work on, which dealt with Afghanistan — a country that IBJ has rarely operated in before. The Afghan legal system has been utterly devastated by the US’s withdrawal of military troops in 2021. After the withdrawal, the Taliban took over the government and effectively ended any form of criminal justice system in place. Any work advancing gender equality in Afghanistan has been dismantled. Around half a million Afghan people have been displaced from their homes as a result of the Taliban’s takeover, and around 70% have been women. Together, Abi and I are working on drafting a proposal for a grant which would fund operations on the ground in Afghanistan for women in need of assistance. Part of this project includes communicating with a displaced Afghan lawyer and judge to learn about operations currently in place. It was devastating to hear stories about the state of affairs following the US military occupation ending. The only way to learn the truth about what is happening on the ground in Afghanistan is by listening to the first hand experiences of displaced Afghan people. Unsurprisingly, it is quite difficult to find any media coverage of Afghanistan today. Unfortunately, due to the nature of our aid, I cannot provide more information surrounding this project.
It’s difficult not to reflect on why Afghanistan is in this predicament. Currently, I am working for an NGO that is trying to provide assistance to Afghan people because of the US’s withdrawal of troops, which led to the Taliban taking over the Afghan government. More reflection can be had on why the US invaded Afghanistan in the first place, but that would require more than a blog post to adequately discuss.
From my multiple discussions with the Afghan lawyer and judge, I learned first-hand what it is like on the ground. Women cannot currently travel outside of their home without a male present that is related to them. For obvious reasons, this creates obstacles for female lawyers that are attempting to aid their clients that are incarcerated; not only would the lawyer need to be present, but so would a male relative. For this to happen, the relative cannot have work obligations and would need to have the freedom to travel for hours at a time. There is also no fair criminal justice process in Afghanistan. The judges act as the prosecutor, defense lawyer, and judge for criminal matters, and a defendant is not allowed to have legal representation. Half a million people have been displaced from their homes, either fleeing to neighboring countries, other regions of Afghanistan, or across the world.
If I have gained anything in my first week at IBJ, it has been legitimate perspective about the true state of affairs in Afghanistan. The little help I am contributing by applying for a grant is at most a small Band-Aid to cover the massive wound left by the US military occupation ending abruptly.
During my first week, adding to the office's already busy schedule, there was a board meeting which included all of IBJ's Board of Directors and Advisory Board to celebrate its 20th birthday (technically, 22nd birthday, but that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The board members were able to hear from each of the full time staff members regarding their projects taking place around the world. Members of IBJ’s international offices also dialed in to update the board. Several of the board members gave speeches about the importance of fighting for justice for people that cannot afford legal representation. Mia Yamamoto spoke about public defenders being some of the greatest lawyers in the world who provide some of the most needed legal representation. Another notable takeaway from the board meeting was from one of the Advisory Board Members, Nancy Hollander. She was also a public defender. I was shocked to learn that Jodie Foster played Nancy Hollander in the 2021 film, The Mauritanian. IBJ has been invited to a theatre in Geneva for a screening of the movie, which I very much look forward to this week.
End of the first week
My first week ended with the board meeting, and afterwards, Chris - the intern coordinator - took all of the interns to Bain des Paquîs. We ended the evening on the shore of Le Lac Léman over des bières pression and snacks. Bain des Paquîs gave us a stunning view and was the perfect way to end a busy first week. While celebrating the end of the week, we also bid "adieu" to two interns who finished their internships. One of the interns will be working on the ground in Cambodia at CBJ (Cambodia Bridges to Justice), one of IBJ's international offices. Friday was a stress-filled day, but also one full of celebration and commemoration of the ongoing mission of IBJ. I've been reminded of the ongoing fight for justice that drove me to apply to law school.
À la semaine prochaine!