U.N. Rule of Law Indicators Project

The project focuses on developing indicators—statistical references that present an overview of change in a given system—for criminal justice institutions, as these are especially significant for peace and security in settings that are currently experiencing, or have recently emerged from, conflict—a primary project focus. Project staff will pay special consideration to incorporating informal as well as formal mechanisms of justice in its analysis.

The United Nations Rule of Law Indicators Project was launched in June 2008 as a joint initiative of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in cooperation with the Department of Political Affairs, the Office of Legal Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Bank.

Vera and its Altus partners will test the indicators in Haiti and Liberia before the United Nations will begin implementing them in other selected countries. The project is expected to last until early 2010.

Strengthening the rule of law

In recent years, indicators have become an important tool for assessing progress in key areas of governance, including the rule of law, which is widely recognized as an essential condition for peace, stability, and opportunity. Recognizing that regions with limited data collection capacity need an expansive, flexible set of indicators, the UN Rule of Law Indicators Project will draw on a wide range of data sources to obtain an empirical and objective overview of law enforcement agencies, the judicial system and the prison system in a given country. By empowering national authorities to gauge these institutions’ performance and transformation over time, the project will provide an important complement to existing indicators, instruments, and assessment tools.

For more information, contact director of international business Monica Thornton.