USAID IRAQ ACCESS TO JUSTICE PROGRAM: VALUES OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND WIDOWS IN IRAQ

The program is organized into three interconnected component areas: improving the practical knowledge of vulnerable individuals about their rights and responsibilities under Iraqi law, increasing the competence and availability of legal professionals and civil society partners, and advocating for improvements to government processes and procedures to facilitate access to government services and legal remedies. The program focuses on addressing gender-based constraints to access to justice, which are restrictions to men's or women's access to resources or opportunities based on their gender roles or responsibilities. The analysis relies on Verna Allee's definition of value networks as "any web of relationships that generate both tangible and intangible value through complex, dynamic exchanges between two or more individuals, groups or organizations." The value network for access to justice for widows in Iraq involves multiple actors, including civil society organizations, legal professionals, and government institutions. The tangible value generated through this network is legal entitlements, while the intangible values generated are knowledge and benefits. The extent to which the network is able to produce its mandated activities is assessed by tracing the steps through which a widow must go and the actors with which she must interact in order to access her rights. The analysis draws on the dTS gender and value chain approach and the gender dimensions framework (GDF) to identify and assess key gender gaps within the access to justice value network for widows. The GDF provides a structured way to analyze gender relations, examining four intersecting dimensions of social life: access to productive assets, social practices, social beliefs and perceptions, and laws, policies, and institutions. The situation of widows in Iraq is complex and challenging. Estimates of the number of widows in Iraq range from 1 to 2 million, with approximately 14,000 in Kirkuk governorate and 400,000 in Baghdad governorate. While some widows are financially secure and have the support of families, the majority face extreme social pressures and bureaucratic obstacles that limit their opportunities to participate as active members of society. The program has identified key gender-based constraints to widows' access to justice, including restrictions to their access to productive assets, social practices, social beliefs and perceptions, and laws, policies, and institutions. These constraints create barriers to widows' ability to claim their rights and access legal entitlements. The program has developed strategies and activities to overcome these constraints and promote the process of widows claiming their rights. The program's efforts are focused on improving the practical knowledge of vulnerable individuals about their rights and responsibilities under Iraqi law, increasing the competence and availability of legal professionals and civil society partners, and advocating for improvements to government processes and procedures to facilitate access to government services and legal remedies. The program's goal is to promote the process of widows claiming their rights and accessing legal entitlements, and to identify areas where the program and its implementing partners can effectively influence further positive change in the coming years for vulnerable groups, men and women of Iraq.