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LESSON

Lesson Learned: Training citizens on law and on institutional dialogue in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The restricted geographical scope of the project to just the municipality of Kinshasa made sense for the period 2008-2010, because it contributed to the projects focus and established a precedent for joint work with civil society organizations, police and judiciary.
Project Partner
RCN Justice & Démocratie
Project Description
The project aimed to enhance the legitimacy of the judicial system in order to reinforce democratic processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Specifically, the project was designed to improve the legal knowledge and sense of responsibility on the part of civil society actors by raising awareness of human rights among citizens and by improving trust between citizens and judicial institutions, as well as better liaison between judicial actors and civil society. The beneficiaries included the population of two municipalities in suburban Kinshasa, as well as families of military and police personnel housed in camps in the area; police officers, prosecutors and judges; and a group of trained NGO resource persons. The project was based on a sound strategy, which identified explicitly the institutional weaknesses that were to be addressed, and proposed realistic steps to address them. The training sessions for NGO resource persons and the seminars bringing together civil society, police and members of the judiciary were implemented to a particularly high standard, as they were both innovative in their field, and carried out with appropriate levels of skills and monitoring.
Evaluation Date
January 2011