Since the launch of the 2010 Asia JusticeMakers Competition, our partners have done an amazing job at promoting the fellowship throughout their communities. They have translated and published press releases in prominent media outlets, hosted launch events and conducted extensive grassroots outreach campaigns. In the following paragraphs, I will highlight particularly amazing accomplishments of some our partners.

Be in Vision Pakistan and Pakistan Lawyers Foundation (PLF)

Be in Vision Pakistan and the PLF, JusticeMakers partners in Karachi, Pakistan, have worked in tandem to promote the competition. They have done outreach in the media, promoted at workshops they hosted and posted information in densely populated and critical areas such as the court house and city hall.

On February 10, The Frontier Post, a widely circulated English newspaper in Pakistan, published the JusticeMakers Press Release with the help of Be in Vision Pakistan and the Pakistan Lawyers Foundation.

The team from Be in Vision Pakistan and Pakistan Lawyers Foundation stand in front of their JusticeMakers banner at the Karachi Bar Association workshop they hosted. 

Pine Tree

Pine Tree is a social justice NGO in La Trinidad, Philippines that focuses on the environmental and cultural rights of indigenous peoples. On January 27th, the launch date of the competition, they hosted an event to raise awareness about the JusticeMakers competition and criminal justice issues. There were 46 participants from both the government and non-governmental sectors, media coverage and student observers from local universities. According to Michael Bengwayan, president of Pine Tree, the event was “lively and participants were enthusiastic. It was very informative and raised a lot of curiosity. In the end, lots of interesting ideas emerged!”

Legal Rights Forum Pakistan

Legal Rights Forum is another criminal justice NGO in Karachi, Pakistan that focuses on providing legal aid and legal rights education. They posted flyers and informational packets in over 60 Bar Associations and Legal Societies throughout Pakistan. They sent over 500 SMS messages to lawyers and NGO officers promoting the competition. In early February they conducted multiple round table discussions highlighting JusticeMakers and facilitated a lecture in a LLM University classroom.

Legal Rights Forum of Pakistan (LRF) hosted a JusticeMakers Launch Event at the Karachi Bar Association, where hundreds of lawyers were in attendance.

Legal Rights Forum of Pakistan (LRF) hosted a JusticeMakers Launch Event at the Karachi Bar Association, where hundreds of lawyers were in attendance.  

Malik Tahir Iqbal, the Founder and Chairman of LRF, gives a lecture to students at the Sindh Muslim Law College in Karachi, highlighting the JusticeMakers Fellowship. 

Translated Press Releases

When we released a press release announcing the 2010 JusticeMakers Competition, we originally only had it an English-language version. However, with the help of our JusticeMakers Partners were were able to get it translated in the following languages: Urdu, Hebrew, Bahasa, Pashto, Taglog, Mongolian, Thai, Nepali, and Russian. If you would like any of these versions, please email JusticeMakers Project Coordinator Liam Hanlon at liam@justicemakers.net.

Once again, thanks to all our partners for their support and dedication in bringing this opportunity to communities throughout Asia. More updates will be coming soon!

Today, January 27th, we are officially launching the 2nd Annual JusticeMakers Fellowship Competition. International Bridges to Justice wanted to pay tribute to our wonderful group of JusticeMakers Partners-a variety of generous non-profit and legal organizations-whose goodwill and commitment has been and is still key to realize the promise of JusticeMakers.

This group of 56 partners is as diverse as it is large, covering over 30 countries and advocating for an array of issues. Collaborating with IBJ, they have used both online and offline promotional tools to bring this opportunity into their local legal communities and facilitate participation.

These organizations have stood up among others to say “no” to torture and illegal and arbitrary detainment in developing and transitional countries. An act of generosity, an act of solidarity and an act of strength.

The following JusticeMakers Partners have done an especially diligent job at generating enthusiasm for the competition and getting their communities involved.

Prisoners Assistance Nepal

Prisoners Assistance (PA) Nepal, a non-profit organization dedicated to penal reform in Nepal, hosted a JusticeMakers event on January 22nd in Kathmandu, Nepal. Collaborating with other JusticeMakers Partners in Nepal-Advocacy Forum, Committee for Social Justice and Women Foundation of Nepal-PA Nepal coordinated roundtable discussions and information sessions to present this Fellowship to legal and human rights activists in the region.

Qadir Foundation

The Qadir Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting human rights in Pakistan, has helped get our press release translated into the hands of many influential newspapers in Karachi and other parts of Pakistan. In addition, the Qadir Foundation has translated the press release into Urdu, helping to get it published in many Urdu media outlets.

Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (LBH Masyarakat)

LBH Masyarakat is a community legal aid institute providing legal services and counsel to those in need in Indonesia. They have taken it upon themselves to promote JusticeMakers to their vast contact list of legal aid NGOs and media personnel in Indonesia, and to translate documents in Bahasa Indonesian.

If I were to detail the extent of support given by each partner, this blog would exceed the limit of acceptable length. That is what has been so special about the 2010 Competition - every partner has voluntarily gone the extra step to ensure this opportunity is available to anyone that could benefit from it.

Please check out our JusticeMakers Partners Page to learn more about the commitment of our generous partners to systemic social change.

Thanks again to everyone who continues to fight injustice wherever it may be. Justice can’t wait.