2019 Year in Review
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In celebration of a new year and a new decade, we look back at some of ICTJ’s achievements and contributions in 2019. In every facet of our work, our guiding approach is to first consult with victims and consider their needs. We seek out and nurture partnerships with victims and the local and national civil society organizations that advocate for them. Our accomplishments last year reflect our fundamental commitment to victims and civil society and demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach and its potential to advance justice, accountability, and reform.
In Tunisia, we continued our Voices of Memory project, bringing into it young people, with a view to raising their awareness about the country’s past experiences with dictatorship and repression and engaging them in intergenerational conversations on the subject. We held workshops in rural areas of the Gambia that brought women victims together to tell their stories and articulate recommendations, as part of a report that they collectively submitted to the country’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission. In Colombia, ICTJ’s yearslong efforts to help negotiate peace between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and then implement the peace deal were recognized when our head of office received the Alfonso Lopez Michelsen Award. And ICTJ launched a program in Armenia to help guide the country’s nascent transitional justice process and support civil society and youth groups working to combat corruption, end impunity, and reform institutions.
Through feature stories, videos, and multimedia we produced last year, we share the perspectives of victims, advocates, artists, experts, and colleagues who tirelessly work to advance truth and justice. Each of these diverse voices speaks to the vital and necessary role that victims and civil society play in building a more just and inclusive future for their countries and the world.
A Letter from the Executive Director
As we bid farewell to 2019 and commence a new decade, we take this opportunity to reflect on the past year and look ahead to a defiant future. It is a time to recognize the achievements and challenges of 2019 and consider the lessons we learned through our experience and research to help us work better in the future.
At the dawn of this second decade of the 21st century, we are witness to a world in constant and rapid flux, full of uncertainty, and all too often driven by the self-interest of elites rather than universal principles and human rights. We continue to grapple with many of the same challenges of yesterday: devastating conflicts around the world that have left behind millions of victims; persistent impunity for the most heinous of crimes; the dismissal of justice, human rights, and humanitarian law; and the rise of nationalist narratives that perpetuate and further entrench racism, marginalization, and exclusion.
Those of us committed to justice and human rights, however, have reason to be hopeful for positive change, justice, and inclusion. This past year, we have also been buoyed by massive, mostly peaceful social protests in capitals and regional hubs in country after country, in which broad sections of society have filled the streets to demand their rights, access to justice, an end to endemic corruption and political and economic disenfranchisement, and urgent and long overdue redress for past injustices and historical grievances. Especially uplifting is the fact that leading these demonstrations, and in some cases revolutions, have been women, youth, and grassroots civil society organizations.
These citizen- and civil society-led movements, which have taken shape and come to life independently from the political establishment in often starkly different countries and regions, have breathed revitalizing fresh air into what has been a bleak global climate for justice and human rights for much of the past decade. Though not an antidote, they clearly articulate social demands, spark new ideas for solutions, and offer inspiration and hope for a better tomorrow.
ICTJ remains steadfast in its mission to help societies dealing with legacies of massive human rights violations and break cycles of violence to build a more peaceful, just, and inclusive future. At the heart of all that we do are the voices and needs of victims and the civil society organizations that advocate for them; they are the most powerful catalysts for real change. Disproportionately among victims in these societies are women, young people, and members of marginalized ethnic or religious communities. They are most often the targets of human rights abuses and bear the brunt of discriminatory political, social, and economic policies. The only path to a truly sustainable peace and development that guarantees justice for all is one where victims and civil society actively and meaningfully participate in transitional justice processes.
ICTJ partners with victims’ groups, women’s associations, youth-led action networks, and other local and national civil society organizations all over the world. We work with and support these groups because they know the local context — the social and political actors and dynamics, the extent and impact of the violations, and the root causes of conflict. They gather evidence and document abuses, they provide psychosocial support to victims and their families, and they mobilize the local population to take action in pursuit of justice and inclusion. For our part, we share our technical expertise and accumulated international experience, we help connect them with other political stakeholders and representatives of national institutions and international and multilateral organizations, and we offer a platform to share their stories with and influence the wider public. Together, we strive for redress, justice, accountability, and meaningful reforms.
In 2020 and the decade to come, we intend to strengthen existing and nurture new partnerships with grassroots civil society organizations and champions of justice at the local level. We will build on the achievements and lessons learned of last year and seize the opportunities they have opened. Side by side with victims, we will secure justice for all.
Fernando Travesí
Executive Director, ICTJ