Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, and World Justice Forum attendees, I would like to start by congratulating the World Justice Project and all the organizations who worked together to co-create this event.

In these times of conflict, heightened tensions and polarization; solidarity and partnership are more important than ever. 

I would like to commend all the finalists of the World Justice Challenge, and all of you for your tireless efforts to uphold the rule of law, expand access to justice and fight for equal protection, human rights and dignity for all.

These themes are vital to UNDP as well. They are an integral part of our new Strategic Plan.

At UNDP we recognize the importance of rule of law and justice in preventing and addressing conflict, including as part of the peace agenda and as the backbone of the 2030 Agenda.

We work tirelessly with national counterparts to strengthen rule of law institutions, including justice, security and national human rights systems. 

For example: UNDP’s Global Programme for Rule of Law and Human Rights delivered targeted assistance to over 50 crisis and fragile contexts in 2021 in collaboration with UN sister entities.

In 2020, our interventions facilitated access to justice for 31 million people. Through our Gender Justice Platform with UN Women, we delivered access to justice for women and girls in 14 conflict-affected countries.

Our work on access to justice is done in the broader context of strengthening the rule of law, SDG integration, and upholding human rights. 

For example, we are developing our strategy for environmental justice; expanding our Business and Human Rights work to hold corporations more accountable; and working towards small arms reduction with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.

Finally, I am pleased to announce that at tomorrow’s UNDP side event “The Launch of UNDP’s Justice Futures CoLab” we will discuss how e-justice and digitalization can transform access to justice. For example,

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) was used in Brazil to identify justice trends and the impacts on vulnerable communities, the State of Palestine has improved justice delivery with an enhanced data management system, and in Pakistan, a human rights data collection system helps to monitor and report on human rights commitments and align them with the SDGs.  To make justice a reality, we need to listen more to the people, learn from our mistakes and share best practices.

Governments need to better understand the needs of their people and proactively uphold their human rights.  Human rights and Justice are the bedrock of development.

As the Secretary-General has stated in his Common Agenda, justice is a critical dimension of a renewed social contract anchored in human rights; justice systems can resolve disputes, address grievances, support inclusion and prevent discrimination... and ultimately rebuild trust.

Adopting systems-based solutions can help address people’s justice needs while at the same time preserving our planet.

UNDP and our Justice Futures CoLab stand ready to help our partners deliver these solutions and we look forward to working with you all.