Promoting Peace and Justice (PPJ) Activity Year 1 Annual Report FY2019

The project began on October 1, 2018, with the primary focus on start-up activities, including staffing, initial deliverables, and procurement of office materials. By the end of the first quarter, Democracy International (DI) had established and furnished the PPJ office, including banking and office-support systems, and had contracted all staff on the team. The project's activities are designed to improve the performance of District Legal Aid Committees to better serve the public, strengthen legal aid committee members' capacity to utilize legal aid funds, and enhance the capacity of District Court judges to better serve in their role on the judiciary and serve clients more effectively. By the end of Quarter 2, PPJ had finalized the review of proposals for grants to support its district-level implementation. These grants provide support to Legal Aid Committees (LACs) as those LACs fulfill their obligations under the Legal Aid Services Act (LASA). Under Component 1, the grants support the delivery of legal aid in the formal justice system, while under Component 3, the subgrantees convey awareness of legal rights and available services to community members. PPJ also began direct implementation of activities in support of Component 1 and the National Legal Aid Services Organization (NLASO) with workshops to inculcate a culture of inclusion by LAC staff who provide court services and legal aid services. In Quarter 3, PPJ's subgrantees began to receive NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) approval to receive the grants, allowing the subgrantees to begin implementation, including creating Implementation Plans and hiring staff. Quarter 3 also saw additional activities directly implemented by PPJ in support of the NLASO with a workshop for all District Legal Aid Officers (DLAOs) so that the NLASO could interact directly with them and seek the continuity and conformity with the NLASO systems that PPJ is supporting. In Quarter 4, PPJ continued supporting the NLASO with a workshop for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) approaches for the DLAOs from PPJ's 20 focus districts. This session also included a "Sensitization Package" developed by PPJ that included presentations from other USAID Implementing Partners (IPs) on specific underserved groups, such as TIP victims, persons with disabilities, gender diverse populations, as well as the discrete legal issues those groups face and their barriers to receiving legal aid services and utilizing the formal justice system. The project's Year 2 promises to be even more impactful with a dynamic slate of activities, including continued implementation of International Framework for Courts of Excellence (IFCE) processes begun at the end of Year 1, activities with the Bangladesh Women's Judges Association (BWJA) to build the skills of women judges, expanded efforts by PPJ's district-level subgrantees in awareness raising and support to LACs, activities to build a more client-oriented practice of law, and support to student-run legal aid initiatives.