Introduction to security and justice
Security is one of the most basic human needs. Before communities can build prosperity, individuals and families must feel secure in their lives, their livelihoods, and their freedoms. Ensuring justice is delivered allows victims of crime to move on with their lives, deters criminals, and is essential to the healthy functioning of society. Insecurity has a direct impact on the lives of poor people, the effects of lawlessness overshadowing their daily lives.
Without effective security and justice services, a woman who is widowed may find that she is evicted from her home and land, or has to withdraw her oldest son from school to protect the family and precious assets from violent crime or theft. She may be unable to go to market or a health clinic for fear of being raped. The police and armed forces who should protect her family may refuse to investigate crimes without being bribed, or worse, be the perpetrators of crime. The nearest court may be a hundred miles away, and traditional forms of justice biased against her because of her gender or poverty.
Good security and justice services can promote right to identity and secure tenure of land. It can train police and armed forces to be accountable to governments and work for all members of their communities, reducing crimes against people and property. It can make community justice mechanisms more sensitive to women’s needs and rights, or increase access to formal justice services through providing legal aid or training paralegals. And controlling the flow of arms within society can reduce the likelihood that a confrontation will end in to serious injury or death.
Security and justice are closely linked with governance
In states with honest and competent governments, where citizens have a voice, and where human rights are protected through justice systems, conflicting interests can be managed. Ways can be found for groups to pursue their goals peacefully.
Where there is poor governance and lack of belief in a rule of law, however, then people are more likely to resort to violence, if they feel the state cannot or will not protect them, their families and properties. This can result in insecurity and conflict. Therefore, an important means of conflict prevention is for a country to have an effective state which provides free and fair justice and physical security to all its citizens. In some countries, this may also include the provision of justice through channels other than the government, for example traditional leaders.
Security and justice is strongly linked to human rights issues as access to justice is both a human right in itself, and also a means for defending other human rights.
The relationship between security and justice issues and conflict
One factor behind the war in Sierra Leone was the exclusion of young people by older men, urban elites and rural chiefs. Young people, lacking political voice, social and economic opportunities, and facing declining public services, started fighting.
History often tells us about equality of opportunity. The 1994 genocide in Rwanda was the culmination of years of resentment by the Hutu ethnic group at their exclusion from the power wielded by the minority Tutsi group. Colonial rule had a strong influence in this exclusion as the colonists favoured the Tutsis. The long-running conflict in Sri Lanka is a result of some Tamils feeling excluded from power by the majority Singhalese community.
As these examples show, groups denied access to economic, political and other opportunities and whose needs are not met through civil institutions, may believe they have little to lose from taking violent action.
Supporting justice and security
The UK’s vision, outlined in the 2009 White Paper is that access to security and justice will be treated as a basic service, on a par with health and education. Our vision is that everyone – without discrimination – should have access to appropriate, affordable and accountable services that protect their rights, keep their families safe, and resolve disputes fairly and promptly.
The UK will triple its bilateral funding for security and justice to £130m by 2014. This funding will help protect men, women and children from physical violence, crime and arbitrary arrest; make sure their property is secure; and give them access to legal advice and a fair trial.
By establishing effective governance and improving accountability, delivering security and justice services and developing local leadership and ownership of the changes, the daily lives of millions of poor people will be improved.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo a new £60m security and justice programme will ensure views of poor people are fed into the policy making process and also improve oversight and accountability of parliament. As part of the project, support is being given to the police to deal with sexual and gender based violence. In Bangladesh a programme to improve access to Community Legal Services will provide alternative dispute resolution, legal aid and legal education for up to 10 million of people. The vast majority of the beneficiaries are women.
People-centred approach
Putting the interests of people at the centre of our approach requires understanding the local context. We need to recognise the linkages and complementary relationship between security and justice.
It also requires a balanced approach between supporting state (e.g. police, army and judiciary) and non-state service providers (e.g. community safety groups, victim support groups, traditional justice systems and paralegals). In many developing countries, over 80% of the population seek justice through informal means at the community level and there is a growing prevalence of non-state security providers.
DFID’s work reflects this. In Nigeria we have supported the training of traditional rulers to introduce a case record-keeping system to improve transparent decision making. In Malawi we are supporting a programme to improve community level justice, impacting on 85% of Malawi’s population and its gender focus already delivering improvements in the rights of women and children.
Violence against women
Worldwide as many as one in three women are beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime. We want to prevent such violence from occurring in the first place, and also offer support in the aftermath of violence, by training the police and judiciary so they can respond in the right way, and helping victims rebuild their lives.
All new DFID security and justice programmes will include measures to support women and girls affected by violence, particularly in conflict or post-conflict situations. An increased focus will be placed on preventing violence against women complementing our support to victims of violence. This is likely to include working with both women and men to change entrenched social attitudes; making physical environments safer; and measures to protect women fleeing persecution and insecurity; as well as training the police and judiciary so that they can respond in the right way.
In Sierra Leone, DFID has provided support to the establishment of nation-wide Family Support Units, staffed jointly by police officers and social workers. Together, they address cases of sexual and domestic violence, including child abuse. These are linked to the work of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (also funded by DFID) which deal with large numbers of cases involving girls between 11 and 15. These initiatives have helped raise the profile of sexual and domestic violence issues. Preliminary findings show that local police, prosecutors and judges are taking a more serious view of women and children’s rights.
Working with other government departments
In 2007, the UK government established the Justice Assistance Network to coordinate the activities of over 20 departments and agencies. We are also developing a new security and justice course for UK experts going overseas. British expertise is highly sought after but we need to work together to ensure that it our assistance is effective and well-coordinated.
Working internationally
The White Paper also commits us to build international partnerships to promote security and justice. By collaborating internationally, we can be more effective. A recent UN/DFID Rule of Law conference initiated a joint endeavour to improve international assistance. We are now working through the OECD-DAC Network on Conflict and Fragility to explore more effective ways of working together internationally and in country.
We are also expanding support to southern civil society networks, who have a key role to play in building demand for good quality services and helping poor people gain the support they need. We will therefore work with our Civil Society Department to increase funding to southern CSOs that help drive global action on security and justice.