A shift is happening around the world, sparked by a movement that’s calling for justice for all — not only for the select few. But even with growing recognition that people-centered justice is key to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, there’s still a huge gap: funding. Experts and advocates leading the charge in Africa spoke to Dynahlee Padilla-Vasquez about why financing people-centered justice needs to be urgently prioritized locally and globally.
As the movement for people-centered justice continues to gain momentum across the world, its future and impact hinge on how governments, donors, and civil society answer the call for funding — in the right amount, by the right people, and for the right people.
Kelechi Achinonu from Nigeria, Andrews Kananga of Rwanda, Clifford Msiska from Malawi, and Christina Kamili Ruhinda of Tanzania, are all part of a network that has committed to expanding access to justice, and by extension, power for all people.
They are lawyers, leaders, and advocates in their communities who are taking their message to the global stage, championing a holistic approach to justice delivery — one that meets people exactly where they are.
Why do you think the movement for people-centered justice is gaining momentum?
Kelechi Achinonu | UN Foundation Next Generation Fellow for Justice | Nigeria I think it’s gaining momentum right now because people are tired of saying the same thing again and again and again, and not seeing results. We’re now getting to the point where the focus on access to justice has moved from infrastructure, or the courts, to putting people at the center.
Andrews Kananga | Legal Aid Forum (LAF) | Rwanda We have excluded for a long period of time people who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of legal services. So, the movement is gaining momentum simply because we have realized that if we are to achieve the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals], people have to be at the center of the services that we provide. But I think the paradigm shift now should be about bringing justice closer to the people. For too long, justice has been for the few, for those who can afford it, for lawyers, for judges, and prosecutors.
Clifford Msiska | African Center of Excellence for Access to Justice (ACE-AJ) | Malawi
I want to emphasize the fact that in Africa, most of our people are in rural areas. Unfortunately, you cannot find formal legal codes in these rural areas. The question is, how do these people meet their justice needs? A poor person cannot even afford to hire a lawyer to represent them in court. Or you find that when you are in a formal court, the language of the court is English. Basically, what I’m trying to say is: the formal justice system is very scary.
What is the case for financing justice?
Christina Kamili Ruhinda | Network of Legal Aid Providers (TANLAP) | Tanzania
For us, the case would be putting justice at the center of everything. Even in education, we need justice. In health, we need justice. And to me, justice is giving people power. If we want to see development in our countries, there is no way we can isolate justice from everything. Justice is everything to me.
Andrews Kananga | Legal Aid Forum (LAF) | Rwanda
If we don’t invest in justice, it’s very hard to achieve development. We come from a continent that is prone to conflict. And where we have conflict, we lack peace. If we don’t have sustainable peace, we don’t have sustainable development. So, whether you like it or not, investment in justice is a precondition for development.
Kelechi Achinonu | UN Foundation Next Generation Fellow for Justice | Nigeria
Justice is at the core of every other sector, so I believe that in cases where leaders stop seeing justice as a sector that stands alone, but as a component that helps other sectors thrive, then there can be a case for justice. And just like it has been said, we can’t go to school if there is conflict. If there’s war in my country, no one is going anywhere.
The math has already been done. We know what it will cost to provide each person with access to basic justice across low or middle-income economies, but how can we actually make it happen — and sustain it?
Christina Kamili Ruhinda | Network of Legal Aid Providers (TANLAP) | Tanzania
I think government should collaborate with donors to make sure that they allocate a budget annually for people-centered justice. Some governments have started allocating budgets, but the budget is not enough. We need to see the budget go to legal service providers because they are the ones who are based in the community, the ones who interact more with the community. … Once the government makes justice a priority and listens to the people about how they want to see justice administered, then we’ll be able to achieve a people-centered justice.
Clifford Msiska | African Center of Excellence for Access to Justice (ACE-AJ) | Malawi
I have one message to donors and partners: If you look at Africa, our governments are not using taxpayer money to support primary justice. So, what should be done? We are aware that most governments in Africa or in low-income countries depend on donations or grants. What would help us, then, is when international development partners or foundations give money to our government, a percentage of that money goes to justice.
Kelechi Achinonu | UN Foundation Next Generation Fellow for Justice | Nigeria
I had a speaking engagement yesterday and one thing I spoke about and asked on behalf of young people was: What should we expect [of] foundations at the SDG Summit? It’s not enough to just give out funding and say, “this is for justice” without actually having metrics as well. How do you even know that the people you’re giving money to are actually doing what you want them to do? I think that going the extra mile shows the level of interest that they have in people-centered justice as well.
Andrews Kananga | Legal Aid Forum (LAF) | Rwanda It’s true that government should invest. That’s for sure. Many of our governments are establishing legal aid boards and institutions, which is very good. And that comes with budget implications. We have multiple initiatives on the African continent. The question now is, are we really sure that all those initiatives can be funded? How can we make sure that we identify those that are more impactful, in which you can invest? Because I don’t think we would ask all our funders to invest in everything.
For instance, village mediation. It’s the system we have had for the last 18 years, and the government has tried to invest in community mediators. This approach has been evaluated and it’s making an impact. … We can see from different parts of the continent how people who initially could not access our court, who could not easily go through the classic justice systems, are able to now access justice because of the initiative.
What are the challenges to financing justice, and how can they be met?
Kelechi Achinonu | UN Foundation Next Generation Fellow for Justice | Nigeria
From my perspective as a young person, coming and listening to discussions about financing justice, I’m like, OK, why can’t we just put resources toward what’s working already? But I recently learned that donors don’t necessarily finance what’s working because they don’t even know what’s working.
Andrews Kananga | Legal Aid Forum (LAF) | Rwanda To be honest, what we are lacking is knowing how to prioritize those issues: Which ones should we focus on? Which one should we fund? Access to justice like legal aid has not been a priority in some countries.
Hence, some of the governments have left this to civil society. Even development partners are constrained because when they come to invest, governments will tell them where they want to invest. It’s education, it’s infrastructure, hospitals. So, I think one of the challenges is the failure to make access to justice a priority for our countries. And so, as a result, governments focus on other things.
I think there should be a change of mindset when it comes to addressing these issues. They are fundamental human rights issues.
Christina Kamili Ruhinda | Network of Legal Aid Providers (TANLAP) | Tanzania
In my opinion, another challenge to financing justice is a lack of coordination and harmonization of efforts. If we have a strategy that clearly tracks this, and if we harmonize justice efforts to make at least those existing initiatives sustainable in communities, then that is when the funding case for justice will be clear.
Clifford Msiska | African Center of Excellence for Access to Justice (ACE-AJ) | Malawi
We will continue to struggle to find money for access to justice. Because in my view, our leaders still look at access to justice as a side issue. I feel that it’s high time we linked access to justice to development. If we can succeed in doing that, then the development partners or funders can say, “Hang on, I think this is the right time and we need to put money toward access to justice.” Otherwise, it will remain a challenge for some time.
This conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.
The United Nations Foundation’s work with the African Center of Excellence for Access to Justice (ACE-AJ) is made possible with support from the Mott Foundation.
