Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman at the U.S. Government’s Sustainable Development Goal 16 Side Event at the High-Level Political Forum

DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR ISOBEL COLEMAN: Thank you, Director [Rachel] Rossi, for that introduction, and for your steadfast leadership in promoting access to justice.

Thank you to our panelists, Andrews Kananga, Veronica Valdez Cabe, Alvaro Herrero, and Jhody Polk for joining us today, and for your commitment to bringing justice to citizens around the globe.

And thank you to all in attendance for your dedication to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals.

It's no secret that this is a challenging time for advancing global justice and human rights. The United Nations has acknowledged that, among all of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG 16 is lagging notably behind. Not one of its targets is on track to be reached by 2030. According to the World Justice Project, two-thirds of countries experienced a weakening of civil justice systems last year, and rule of law once again weakened in a majority of countries - continuing the steady trend of decline in global rule of law that started in 2016. And with that weakening has come a decline in human rights which have regressed in three out of four countries since 2016.

Just past the midpoint of the 2030 agenda, we are at a pivotal moment, as democracies face headwinds around the world.

A global resurgence of authoritarianism and democratic backsliding. Rampant disinformation, accelerated by the misuse of powerful technologies like algorithmically-driven social media and artificial intelligence. National and transnational corruption. International and civil conflicts. The list goes on. These challenges to democracy and human rights are powerful, and threaten to thwart our collective progress toward reaching the SDGs.

But formidable as they are, and devastating in their effects on lives and livelihoods, these problems are not insurmountable. They continue to require the coordinated efforts of a critical mass of nations, individuals, and institutions, unwavering in commitment and united in action.

So, at USAID, we remain focused on the long game. That includes looking for new ways to contribute to building global justice, new opportunities to innovate and improve our programming, and new partnerships to strengthen our work. And every day, we bear witness to the courageous work of human rights defenders and pro-democracy advocates fighting for justice and dignity around the world, and do everything we can to support their work.

Today, USAID has democracy programs in 81 countries, with a roughly $1.6 billion annual budget. In line with Biden Administration priorities, we are catalyzing progress on SDG 16 by elevating democracy and the rule of law in our policy and development agendas, generating knowledge and evidence that drives innovation, and mobilizing cutting-edge programs and technical assistance to enable USAID's Missions and partners to accelerate democratic development globally.

In line with SDG 16, we do this through programming that promotes fairness and access to justice; protects human rights; advances freedom of the press; fosters citizens' ability to hold their governments accountable; and enables credible, free, fair, and peaceful elections and transitions of power - ideals that we are clearly wrestling with here in the United States, as we grapple with the realities of political violence.

USAID's global justice programming takes a variety of forms. For example, in Mexico, Honduras, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, USAID is running 100-day challenges, during which we bring communities, justice leaders, and government officials together to solve a particular problem within a finite period of time. Recently, as a result of one of these challenges in Mexico, a State's Attorney General's Office generated solutions to improve case management associated with traffic-related damage, injury, and homicide. After implementing these solutions, the Attorney General's Office achieved more than a 260 percent increase in case resolution and recovered $11.5 million in Mexican Pesos - nearly $680,000 as restitution for victims.

To give another example, in Colombia, USAID has partnered with government leaders in numerous municipalities to develop what are called Justice Houses. These are Integrated, multi-agency service centers which serve as one-stop-shops for meeting community justice needs and addressing issues like poverty, gang activity, local conflict, and gender-based violence. These community-based avenues for conflict prevention and dispute resolution reflect the paradigm of people-centered justice that animates USAID's Rule of Law Policy, placing the people affected by the law at the core of the policies, processes, and practices that constitute justice systems. Today, there are more than 50 well-staffed Justice Houses operating throughout Colombia. These centers have supported nearly eight million citizens, mainly from low-income communities, in accessing justice and care.

And last year, we launched our Rule of Law Innovation, Design, Experimentation, Acceleration, and Solutions Lab, or IDEAS Lab, which is dedicated to promoting data-backed best practices and supporting our Missions in implementing Rule of Law and people-centered justice programs. In order to spur locally-led innovation, the IDEAS Lab has been hosting what we call "IDEAthons," or brainstorming sessions convening bright minds from within the communities where we work. Last month, we hosted an IDEAthon in Serbia that yielded community-based solutions that harness artificial intelligence to streamline public justice processes, increase accessibility for visually impaired citizens completing legal documents, and help persons with disabilities navigate complex procedural steps inherent in accessing public resources.

These are just a handful of the hundreds of ways on any given day that USAID is working to move the needle on SDG 16. And yet we know full well our efforts alone will not be enough. Turning the tide toward justice requires more than just our increased focus and improved programming approaches. We believe it demands three significant and global efforts.

First, it requires that we break free from the myth that rule of law reform is prohibitively expensive and takes too long to demonstrate results. Credible research suggests that a universal, basic, people centered-justice system costs roughly $35 per person per year in low-income countries to implement. This might seem like a daunting figure, but we know that rule of law underpins so much of development. Indeed, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that taking such action has a very high rate of return. Studies have shown that every $1 invested in increasing access to justice yields the equivalent of $4 saved on transaction costs, $14 gained in productivity, $51 gained in quality of life; and $10 saved in the costs of public services.

Second, turning the tide requires that we, as member states and organizations committed to the rule of law, work together in coordinated and dynamic ways. That's why USAID is proud to be a member of the Governance Board of the Justice Action Coalition, an alliance committed to furthering learning, sharing evidence, and investing in people-centered justice. Today, I am pleased to announce that, with Congressional approval, USAID will make a $600,000 contribution to the Justice Action Coalition's (JAC) Data and Evidence Workstream through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This contribution will enable the OECD to develop global standards and tools to collect rule of law data, provide evidence of how investments in rule of law and justice system strengthening contribute to other development outcomes, and bring together justice leaders, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and others to share their ideas and develop new solutions.

This contribution will also strengthen the JAC Secretariat, demonstrating our commitment to the alliance's new governance structure. As donors, we need to continue to find ways to work together, including through co-funding of programs, data and evidence sharing, and working locally to advance people-centered justice and rule of law in a cost-effective manner. The JAC is a leader in each of these regards.

Third and finally, we must catalyze reform using tools beyond our standard budget commitments and traditional assistance - or, as we, at USAID, like to say, to deliver "progress beyond programs." This means drawing on our convening power to mobilize new partnerships, including with the private sector; tapping into the power of our broad policy toolbox to lead conversations and influence norms; and engaging in effective development diplomacy by leveraging our expertise and prioritizing insights from our partners on the ground to maximize impact and drive locally-led progress.

Our work in Zambia illustrates the point. As Zambia experiences an encouraging democratic opening, USAID is surging high-level attention, support, and resources to the country, and seeking to build broad coalitions to help the government, civil society members, and Zambian citizens in their efforts to sustain and consolidate democratic advances. And recognizing that we cannot achieve our goals through government alone, USAID is helping connect Zambia's leaders with private-sector investors, bilateral and multilateral donors, and philanthropic counterparts; and using the U.S. government's convening power to help facilitate new partnerships and coalitions. We encourage other donors and member states to explore ways they too can draw on every available resource to make their dollars count and achieve maximum global impact.

In conclusion, we at USAID, together with our partners at the Department of Justice and across the U.S. government, are focused squarely on taking steps to reach the SDGs. But we are well aware that our resources are finite, and we don't have all the answers. We need all of you. And we need to act quickly and purposefully. With 2030 fast approaching, we have no time to waste in turning the tide towards increased access to justice, strengthening global democracy, and ultimately bettering the lives of people.

Thank you.

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