Programs

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Human Rights and Social Justice

Volunteer Monica Gallagher (center) with lawyers from the Women's Rehabilitation Centre, Nepal

Human Rights Assessment in Russia: A Russian speaking ISLP volunteer with substantial experience in civil liberties and civil rights litigation served on a three-member consulting team which conducted a USAID human rights assessment project for Russia. The assessment included three weeks of interviewing human rights leaders in Moscow, Perm, Novosibirsk, and Tomsk. The resulting report, Human Rights in Russia Next Phase: From Glasnost to Slyshnost, has been publicly released and acknowledged by USAID as a major resource in designing its new funding program for Russian human rights non-governmental organizations.

Project Impact: Project Impact is a nonprofit enterprise that manufactures and distributes low cost hearing aids in the developing world. Project Impact, whose first manufacturing and distribution site is in India, has extremely complex legal needs. An ISLP volunteer, who is retired from practice but remains Of Counsel to the global firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, organized a team of lawyers from his firm, including the head of the Intellectual Property department and a leading corporate partner, to provide Project Impact with the ongoing legal assistance it requires.

The Socio-Legal Information Centre (SLIC): SLIC is a network of public interest law centers in India that provides legal aid to the poor and assistance to victims of discrimination and human rights violations. SLIC sought assistance from ISLP in connection with cases it is undertaking, including criminal justice issues, police brutality, sexual harassment, immigrants' rights and other matters, and advocacy activities in connection with political and human rights legislation. Three ISLP volunteers are heading up this project, including one who lived in India for five months working with SLIC directly and continues her involvement with SLIC since her return, and two who are supervising the research and writing aspects from the United States. Pro bono research and writing assistance has been provided by the offices of law firms in Boston, New York, Washington, London, Paris, Milan and Cologne.