Human Rights & Inclusive Development (HR-ID)

As a robust part of Democracy and Governance practice, BlueLaw builds institutions and supports reforms that help ensure full access to justice and participation in society for groups that are often excluded or marginalized in their communities. Our experts have designed and implemented human rights and disability inclusion projects that have had an impact in over twenty-five countries worldwide, and include strengthening national human rights institutions, crafting human rights and disability sensitive legal and policy reforms, and implementing creative participatory human rights education programs.

Ultimately it is our goal to open and improve access for vulnerable populations to important forums (such as the institutions of justice) where their voices can be heard.

To this end, we have worked with leading judges, members of parliament, human rights ministries and a spectrum of justice sector staff members to create cooperative alliances, forge new processes and design and implement new education curricula to advocate for human rights.  The highlights of some of our projects in this practice area are provided below:

• Working with American University’s Center for Global Peace officials in the justice sector and human rights advocates in Iraq to establish an Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights.

• Training election commissions on legal reform and election access strategies consistent with international standards in Liberia, Armenia, Morocco, Yemen, Egypt, and Jordan. BlueLaw is also working with its partner, American Institutes for Research, to assist USAID in implementing a disability policy that focuses on parliaments and electoral commissions in Zambia and Mexico.

• Designing, developing, and implementing the first comprehensive human rights education curriculum on the rights of persons with disabilities in partnership with Human Rights YES! Action and Advocacy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

• Partnering with The Burton Blatt Institute on a cooperative regional disability rights project that aims to bring access to information, networking, and advocacy training to caregivers, providers of legal services, parents, and citizens with a spectrum of disabilities.

We have full-time staff and associate specialists who support our work in this practice.