Impact Update

Dear John,

Thank you for your shared commitment to strengthening the rule of law. Every day the news reinforces how important this mission is. And with allies like you, we are making important progress to identify and counter troubling trends. Please see some highlights of our work from the second quarter of 2022 below.

From May 30-June 3, more than 700 attendees gathered in-person in The Hague to learn, network, and advance equal rights, access to justice, and anti-corruption efforts around the world. Another 500 attendees joined us virtually with programming available in five languages, making our event truly global, inclusive, and interactive.

The World Justice Forum and the World Justice Project’s work as a whole was highlighted in the June 11 edition of The Economist.

Learn more about the 2022 World Justice Forum.

Of 305 applicants from 118 countries, WJP and its partners selected 30 World Justice Challenge finalists to showcase their work at the World Justice Forum. There, WJP honored five finalists with awards and cash prizes—Cambodia Bridges to Justice for Access to Justice, the Red Dot Foundation and The Urban Vision from India for Equal Rights and Non-Discrimination, TransparencIT from Nigeria for Anti-Corruption and Open-Government, InReach (formerly AsylumConnect), a US-based global organization for Data for Justice, and POS Foundation from Ghana for the Alumni Award, selected by past Challenge winners and finalists.

Finalists were evaluated by a 10-member judging panel, which included former president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, International Trade Union Confederation leader Sharan Burrow, and human rights activist Hina Jilani. Watch the Challenge awards ceremony and acceptance speeches at the World Justice Forum.

Learn more about the Challenge winners.

This past May, the World Justice Project’s Mexico team launched the 2021-2022 Mexico States Rule of Law Index in a presentation in the Mexican Senate, with a group of senior-level senators supporting the launch, including leaders from the ruling party as well as the opposition.

The annual index measures rule of law in each of Mexico’s 32 states. Among this year’s findings were that scores for “limits on government power” fell in 17 states and remained unchanged in nine. These declines were driven by weakened local legislative and judicial powers and a closing of civil society space.

Media coverage of the Index launch was up 62% from last year, generating 410 news items and 31 front page stories.

The WJP’s 2021-2022 Mexico Rule of Law Index is currently available in Spanish.

The World Justice Project released five graphical reports on rule of law in Central America, covering El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Panama. The reports draw on WJP’s nationally representative surveys focused on perceptions and experiences of government accountability, fundamental freedoms, police, criminal justice, gender, security, and migration.

On June 22, at a U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the addressing the root causes of migration, Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX), referenced the WJP reports to call attention to the high numbers of Central Americans seeking to leave their countries. (Watch from 15:35-16:00 in this video).

WJP Chief Research Officer Alejandro Ponce also drew on the report findings while participating in a roundtable at the U.S.-government-hosted Summit of the Americas in early June. The panel focused on security and criminal justice in the Northern Triangle of Central America and included the prime ministers of Haiti and Antigua & Barbuda, Guatemala’s foreign minister, the mayor of Los Angeles, and leaders from the cruise ship industry and the UN Development Programme.

WJP continues to engage with diverse national and international stakeholders interested in the WJP Rule of Law Index and the data insights it provides to on-going reform efforts. In the past quarter, WJP has provided in-depth briefings on the Index methodology and country-specific findings to delegations from the Ministry of Finance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, anti-corruption agencies of Uzbekistan and Hong Kong, and the Philippines National Economic Development Authority.

On April 19, WJP Executive Director Elizabeth Andersen gave a keynote presentation during the RECONNECT EU Conference, highlighting rankings in the WJP Rule of Law Index 2021 and the ways in which the European Union can further strengthen rule of law and be a model for other regions of the world.

As part of a new WJP initiative to counter deterioration in the rule of law in the United States, WJP staff have highlighted WJP data and recommendations to diverse U.S. audiences.

Elizabeth Andersen addressed the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Law Day celebration with a presentation entitled “Rebuilding Trust: Insights from the World Justice Project’s Global Rule of Law Index®,” highlighting the role that lawyers and bar associations can play in upholding the rule of law;
On June 17, she addressed the American Constitutional Society’s National Convention as part of its “Democracy’s Moment of Truth” plenary;

And on June 21, WJP Chief Engagement Officer Ted Piccone spoke about the rise of authoritarianism and declining respect for the rule of law to the Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council. (Watch at 25:37 for discussion of Index.)

Here are 4 ways you can expand WJP’s impact around the world:

Use the WJP Rule of Law Index to advocate for reform.
Reach out and support our World Justice Challenge winners and finalists.
Follow us on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter.
Make a donation.

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