eNotes  -  August 2006

Vance Center Develops Online Meeting Space for Justice Advocates

With the expansion of the Internet in the past decade, it has become increasingly easy for organizations and individuals alike to connect and build relationships online. This development has, in turn, spurred the growth of regional and global networks that are largely facilitated through a variety of web-based tools. The Vance Center expects to make its own contribution to this development this fall when it launches the Global Network for Justice Initiatives (GNJI), an online working space for lawyers, scholars and advocates concerned with access to justice issues.

"Since its creation, the Vance Center has been developing an international network of people working on regional and global justice projects," Joan Vermeulen, the Vance Center executive director, said. "It thus seems fitting for the Vance Center to undertake a project that will allow justice advocates around the world to first build relationships with each other and then work collaboratively on key legal and social issues."

GNJI will serve as a space for advocates to meet, sustain contact and build trust relationships. Once such relationships are established, participants will be able to use GNJI's functions to collaborate on projects and exchange knowledge and expertise.

The site's functions will include a weblog on topics like social responsibility of the legal profession, ethics and access to justice, the development of fair and equitable public policies, judicial reform and legal advocacy. GNJI will also feature multiple discussion forums, a library of legal resources and a database of partners and projects in countries around the world.

The idea for GNJI was conceived in 2003 by Ms. Vermeulen and Vance Center associate director Elise Colomer, following a trip to Latin America and a series of meetings with partners in Argentina, Brazil and Chile. While the network of justice advocates in Latin America had grown in recent years, the movement faced challenges as advocates from different countries found it difficult to build sustained working relationships across distances.

"One of the most fundamental challenges to my work in Argentina and beyond is the absence of a low-cost communications platform to facilitate the consistent exchange of information and ideas between the geographically disperse advocates working on transformation and justice issues," Martín Böhmer, Dean of the University of San Andres School of Law in Buenos Aires, said. 

The Vance Center was well placed to tackle the problem because of its experience building networks and partnerships in Latin America, he added.

Plans for GNJI surged ahead early in 2006, when the Vance Center hired Chilean lawyer Felipe Lecaros to develop and administer the site. The Vance Center will pilot GNJI in Latin America this fall with the expectation that its usage will expand to include networks in other parts of the world. Participants will be able to use the site's resources to meet local needs as well as reach out to individuals and institutions in other parts of the world working on similar initiatives.

"GNJI will allow its users to build and consequently have access to useful contacts and information that, otherwise, is not available," Mr. Lecaros said. "Currently, there is no place or site that provides such resources and its potential for growth is enormous."

While the Vance Center will administer the site, users' needs will primarily dictate its development. From the site's guest bloggers to the users who will create and sustain the discussion forums, GNJI will be a fluid and dynamic community driven by the people who use it on a regular basis.

"GNJI's users will have the opportunity to build a unique network," Mr. Lecaros said. "In the end, it's the users who will build and benefit from the site."

For more information on the Global Network for Justice Initiatives click here or contact Felipe Lecaros.

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