Read the stories below to learn how Center's Rule of Law Program work impacts the lives of women, children, and men around the world.
Emmanuel Zulu is a young political activist in Zambia with strong convictions and sturdy shoes. In November 2021, Zulu embarked on a nine-day, 255-mile walk from his hometown of Chingola to the capital city of Lusaka to raise awareness about government accountability; transparency; and inclusion of youth, women, and people with disabilities in civic decision-making. Learn more »
Sometimes doing the right thing makes people uncomfortable. When Regina N. Bee, a Carter Center youth information ambassador in Bong County, Liberia, told students that the country’s freedom of information law gave them the right to ask their principal about the status of their ID cards, the principal accused her of brainwashing them. Learn more »
By Paige Alexander, chief executive officer of The Carter Center
We at The Carter Center are horrified by the devastation in Ukraine. As we have helped other nations to rebuild after wars, we will continue waging peace. Learn more »
Barbara Smith, vice president of the Carter Center’s peace programs, says she was born to her line of work. Her mother is from Germany and taught her the value of international perspectives. Her father was in the military and ingrained in her the importance of service. Learn more »
Marthaline Nuah is determined to get a college education. There is no university in her village in northeastern Liberia, so she left home and moved in with an aunt who lives in Saniquellie, which is the capital of Nimba County and home to a community college. Her aunt gave her the money to pay for college entrance exams, which she passed, and for the college’s admission fees. But there wasn’t enough left over for courses.
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By Laura Neuman, director, Rule of Law Program
Laura Neuman, senior advisor to The Carter Center, discusses the Inform Women, Transform Lives campaign, what it’s all about, and why it matters. Learn more »
Liberians now have a new, easy way to file complaints – or compliments – about police officers. With support from The Carter Center, a Liberian company has developed the Find Officer app, part of a larger effort to build trust in the police by increasing accountability. Learn more »
By Laura Neuman, director, Rule of Law Program
Selima Begum, 28, is the mother of a 7-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. They live in Tuker Bazar Union, Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. Since her divorce, Begum has struggled to provide necessary medical care for her son, at times having to forgo routine medical treatments because of a lack of money. Though she works as a housecleaner when she can, it often does not pay enough to meet all her family’s needs. Learn more »
Selima Begum, 28, is the mother of a 7-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. They live in Tuker Bazar Union, Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. Since her divorce, Selima has struggled to provide necessary medical care for her son, at times having to forgo routine medical treatments because of a lack of money. Though she works as a housecleaner when she can, it often does not pay enough to meet all her family’s needs.
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Building a peaceful world involves more than ending war. A peaceful world is one in which justice thrives, everyone’s rights are respected, and people have access to essentials. The Carter Center has dozens of programs and projects dedicated to making the dream of peace a reality. This slide show explores a handful of them.
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Information has the power to transform lives. But only if you can access it. In 2014, the Carter Center’s Global Access to Information program conducted a study that found that women in Guatemala have a harder time than men accessing information to which they’re entitled. This includes information about things that could make enormous differences in their lives – information about government benefit programs, about laws that protect them, about business and educational opportunities.
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Theodosia Borbor may not be a lawyer, but she knows Liberian law. And she’s passionate about making sure others do, too. Borbor is a community justice advisor with the Carter Center-supported Catholic Justice and Peace Commission. She provides free mediation services and organizes community awareness sessions for the people of Margibi County, which sits about an hour from Liberia’s capital, Monrovia.
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The 40-year-old mother of four is the first female driver for the Carter Center’s Access to Justice Project in Liberia – and one of the country’s few female professional drivers, period.
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By Ambassador (ret.) Mary Ann Peters, chief executive officer
It’s no secret that this world is full of problems—some big and terrifying, some small and trivial. It may seem overwhelming at times, but it doesn’t have to be paralyzing. Learn more »
Sometimes, something as simple as a radio message can change lives. Olivia Stewart, a resident of New Georgia Estate, a mostly low-income community on the outskirts of Liberia’s capital city of Monrovia, was washing up one afternoon in 2015 when she heard a public notice for government grants for projects empowering women and youth.
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By Laura Neuman, director, Carter Center Global Access to Information Program
Access to information is a transformative human right. Enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, access to information is foundational not just for the exercise of other rights, but also for economic empowerment and meaningful participation in public life. And yet, a large portion of the world’s population is unable to enjoy this right. Learn more »
Walking home from his office in Kakata, Liberia, Victor Tuazama stumbled upon a confrontation between a police officer and a citizen. When it became clear that the citizen was about to be arrested because he owed a man the equivalent of about US$30, Tuazama, who works as a community justice advisor for the Carter Center-supported Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, intervened.
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For nearly three years, 83-year-old Blanca Nieves Valdez didn’t exist. She was living in a cozy house in the small town of San José la Arada, Guatemala, doing all the things that real people do —eating, sleeping, chatting, chores — but as far as the government of Guatemala was concerned, she was a non-person. The official record book containing her information was destroyed, so when the government changed its ID system, it didn’t issue her a new ID card.
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In Liberia’s Nimba County, many women are raising their children on their own. Fathers often contribute little or nothing to their care, even if the mothers take them to court. Judges may side with the women and order the men to pay child support, but too often the men make a payment or two and then slip off to some other part of the country, never to be heard from again.
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This month, the United Nations turned over the responsibility for Liberia’s security to the Liberian government. It’s the first time in 13 years that the government has been solely in charge of keeping the peace. Learn more »
Jordan Ryan, vice president for peace programs, may be relatively new to The Carter Center, but his connection to President and Mrs. Carter dates back to the ’70s.
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By Chris Hale, associate director, Global Access to Information Program
“Information is power” is a refrain most of us have heard before. The work of The Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Program rests not only on a firm belief that information is power, but that the right to access information is the basic currency for democratic participation and an active and full exercise of citizenship. Learn more »
Over a decade ago, Laura Neuman attended a gathering in one of India's poorest states to watch colleagues read public documents aloud to villagers.
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As the Ebola epidemic escalated in Liberia last fall, the nation's ministries and international public health agencies asked The Carter Center to help mobilize communities to identify cases of the disease and prevent its spread.
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The Carter Center’s community justice advisors (CJAs) are bringing free legal services – and awareness of how the law should work – to urban slums in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia. Learn more »
By Laura Neuman, manager, Global Access to Information Program
In celebration of International Right to Know Day on Sept. 28, 2013, The Carter Center and local partners in Liberia hosted a series of activities to raise awareness of the value of freedom of information and to encourage the use and full implementation of the country’s 2010 Freedom of Information Act. Learn more »
On Aug. 19-22, the Carter Center’s Access to Justice Project, in collaboration with Liberia’s ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs, trained 30 youth leaders in Kakata on conflict resolution skills and knowledge of the rule of law. Learn more »
When Liberian high school student George Toddy failed the math and science sections of his college entrance exam, he was disappointed but not surprised — he had heard that his region had a very high failure rate compared to other parts of the country. Learn more »
In early 2010, remote Baimiao Township in Sichuan Province, China, was dubbed the "naked government" when local officials posted its budget online, reportedly disclosing everything from salaries to the cost of notebooks and paper cups.
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For residents of Bor Town, Grand Bassa County, Liberia, a trip to the nearest magistrate's office to solve a dispute isn't just an expense that many in this subsistence-farming community cannot afford; it is also a major trip — eight hours walking by footpath, one way.
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Like many Liberian women, Ruth Saye has faced violence, subjugation, and loss as a result of her country's devastating civil war, but she was determined to empower women and help them to heal.
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Philomena Bloh-Sayeh is surrounded by mounds of documents in boxes stacked on shelves. "These are marriage documents," she says. "You'll see gaps in the years where some of them were lost during the war."
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For Carter Center officer Pewee Flomoku, bringing justice to the citizens of Liberia is personal.
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Public Radio International's “The World” examines Liberia's struggle with land disputes, as citizens return home after the war to find others living on land they claim as their own, in a story aired Aug. 3. The story also features the Carter Center’s John Hummel, who explains the country’s need for both a modern legal system and tribal justice system. Learn more »
The National Traditional Council of Liberia (NTC) recently honored Carter Center efforts in the country at a farewell ceremony for the Center’s outgoing country representative, John Hummel. Hummel was gowned in traditional clothing as a show of appreciation to him and The Carter Center for “its good will to the Liberian people,” describing him as “a son whom they will always miss.” Learn more »
The Carter Center's new initiative to help Liberia’s indigenous leaders manage local disputes was recently featured by Voice of America. The Center’s efforts follow a 15-county consultation on the rule of law with traditional leaders in 2009, and a request from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Traditional Council for help strengthening the capacity of local leaders. Learn more »
Impact from the Carter Center’s African Regional Conference on the Right of Access to Information, held in Ghana in February, is still being felt around the African continent as stakeholders work to advance the right and foster communication about remaining challenges. Learn more »
In Ghana, where the government is currently debating the passage of a right to information bill, Nana Oye Lithur coordinates the campaign to ensure the proposed law will conform to international standards and enhance transparency and accountability.
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Working with monitors from the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (JPC), The Carter Center supports legal advice services in marginalized rural communities through a network of 32 Community Legal Advisors (CLAs) in eight counties. Learn more »
The African Regional Conference on the Right of Access to Information began Sunday in Accra, Ghana. More than 130 participants arrived from 20 African countries as well as Mexico, Canada, India, Australia, and the United States. Learn more »
Listen to Laura Neuman, associate director for the Americas Program at The Carter Center and the access to information project manager, discuss the upcoming conference. Learn more »
For 30 years, Henrietta Gayflor* endured ongoing physical abuse from her partner. After he assaulted her in her front yard one day, Gayflor decided to take action.
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Although about one half of all the countries in the Americas now have some form of access to information legislation, and almost all of the remaining countries are considering establishing a statutory right to information, there remain a number of critical challenges. In many countries, implementation and enforcement of the law has been weak. In other places there are signs of backsliding where once vibrant laws are now politicized or ineffectual; and in all cases there is a need to broaden and deepen the usage of the right to information.
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In this Q&A, the Carter Center's Laura Neuman, assistant director of the Americas Program and Access to Information Project manager, shares her insights. Learn more »
Access to public information matters to the average citizen: it is a human right with the power to make a difference in both individual lives and in the life of a community. Although great advances have been made worldwide over the last decade, countries still face important challenges in the implementation and enforcement of access to information laws. Learn more »
Access to information is a fundamental right. Allowing people to seek and receive public documents serves as a critical tool for fighting corruption, enabling citizens to more fully participate in public life, making governments more efficient, encouraging investment, and helping persons exercise their fundamental human rights. For this reason, The Carter Center is actively involved with governments and civil society. Learn more »
At the invitation of the Government of Liberia, the Carter Center's "Strengthening the Rule of Law and Combating Impunity" project, begun in October 2006, is filling critical gaps in the delivery of justice in rural Liberia.
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"Frankly, I would like to see Liberia at the apex of the continent, on top. I believe very strongly and very sincerely that in spite of what we've been through-the devastation and degradation and all of the other negatives that we can think of-we still have the propensity to rise highly and rigorously." Learn more »
Tiawan S. Gongloe, solicitor general of Liberia, knows his country's justice system from both sides of a jail cell. As a student activist in the late 1970's, he was imprisoned and beaten for speaking out against the government of then-president William Tolbert, and later for speaking out against President Charles Taylor.
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Mama Tumeh, leader of the country-wide Traditional Women for Peace – a Carter Center partner — is regarded as the spiritual leader of women throughout Liberia. Her work is bringing a message of hope and empowerment to women who are survivors of the country's 14-year civil war.
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The Modia Drama Club, based in Gbarnga, Liberia, is a Carter Center partner in the rule of law public education and awareness campaign. Members travel to Liberia's most remote villages by foot, motorcycle, and four-wheel drive, to educate entire communities – often gathered in open-air settings – through skits, music, and interactive dialogue on Liberia's new laws.
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Although the country's decades of violence are over, Liberia's women continue to face their own private wars: marital rape, domestic abuse, poverty. The Carter Center, at the invitation of Liberia's Ministry of Justice and in partnership with community-based organizations in the West African country, is helping close the violence gap through local education programs and governmental capacity building.
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The purpose of the drama is to inform community members about the law and their rights. After enduring 14 years of civil war, most Liberians, especially in remote areas, have little knowledge of the formal justice system, new laws, and ways to seek justice.
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The Carter Center observed Liberia’s historic presidential and legislative elections on Oct. 11, 2005. Only two years earlier, Liberia had emerged from 14 years of civil warfare, which had left over a million people displaced and the country’s infrastructure destroyed. More than 1.3 million people registered to vote, which was estimated to be 90 percent of the eligible population.
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Liberians, their country devastated by years of civil war, head to the polls in October 2005 in the most promising opportunity the country will have to establish a fragile, post-conflict democracy. Liberia's destroyed infrastructure, pervasive poverty, 85 percent illiteracy rate, and bitter electoral history are compounding the challenges of providing civic education and making technical arrangements for the election process.
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In this Q&A, the Carter Center’s Laura Neuman, senior program associate, Americas Program, shares her insights. Access to information is one of the keys to democracy. Allowing people to seek and receive public documents serves as a critical tool for fighting corruption, enabling citizens to more fully participate in public life, making governments more efficient, encouraging investment, and helping persons exercise their fundamental human rights. Learn more »
