Gender Justice Practitioners Hub (GJPH)

This initiative explores the establishment of a Gender Justice Practitioner Hub (GJP Hub) – a centre mandated to support and connect practitioners involved in securing gender justice for core international crimes. Through collaboration, coordination and by leveraging decades of experience at national and international levels, the GJP Hub would provide practical tools and assistance to practitioners to help strengthen efforts in pursuit of gender justice. Over the course of two years, LAW is conducting a series of roundtables and bilateral discussions with experts and practitioners to explore and formulate the mandate and structure of a GJP Hub, and to better understand how it could support grassroots, national, regional and international gender justice efforts. 

Recent roundtables:

• Nairobi: On 26 June 2024, Legal Action Worldwide, chaired a closed-door discussion on the establishment of a Gender Justice Practitioner Hub (GJP Hub) – a centre mandated to support and connect practitioners involved in securing gender justice for core international crimes. Through collaboration, coordination and by leveraging decades of experience at national and international levels, the GJP Hub would provide practical tools and assistance to practitioners to help strengthen efforts in pursuit of gender justice.  The roundtable was the seventh in a series of regional roundtables, convening practitioners and experts to obtain input and critical feedback on the GJP Hub initiative. Previous roundtables have taken place in Beirut (June 2023), Bangkok (November 2023), New York (December 2023), The Hague (March 2024), Geneva (April 2024), Bogotá (May 2024). Alongside the roundtables, detailed desk research and expert interviews have taken place to strengthen findings. 
• Bogotà: On 2 May 2024, Legal Action Worldwide and the Embassy of Australia in Colombia facilitated a Gender Justice Practitioners Hub roundtable in Bogotá, Colombia. More than 30 representatives from civil society, academia, UN agencies and executive and judicial state institutions joined to gather their input and perspectives as experts in gender justice efforts in the region. Recognising the decades of consolidated expertise in the region in the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of gender-based crimes in contexts of armed conflict, dictatorships, and political repression, participants underscored the need for a space for practitioners to safely come together, coordinate and collaborate. Roundtable participants highlighted the importance that the Hub prioritises access and communication of the vast amount of information, resources, learnings, jurisprudence, and legal frameworks that is already produced and available in the region. Ideas around the functioning of the Hub were also considered. Furthermore, participants supported the idea that the Hub could integrate interdisciplinary tools, as the experience in Latin America has shown that the combination of knowledge and support beyond legal professionals have proved successful in key landmark decisions on gendered crimes.
• Geneva: On 24 April 2024, LAW and the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations facilitated a Gender Justice Practitioners Hub roundtable in Geneva, Switzerland. 30 representatives from civil society, member states and key UN mechanisms, commissions of inquiry and fact-finding bodies joined to hear feedback from previous roundtables and provide input on the Hub initiative. Recognising the growing threat to movements seeking gender justice, participants underscored the need for a space for practitioners to safely come together, coordinate and collaborate, echoing a clear finding fromprevious roundtables. The role of a future Hub as a central repository was also considered. Roundtable participants highlighted the need for precedent, policy and best practice to be curated and made accessible for a wide range of practitioners.
• New York: On 5 December 2023, LAW, together with UN Women, chaired the side event  “Supporting Practitioners in Securing Gender Justice for Core International Crimes”. This important discussion considered the possible establishment of an International Gender Justice Practitioner Hub (GJP Hub). Through collaboration, coordination and by leveraging decades of experience at national, regional and international levels, the GJP Hub would provide practical tools and assistance to practitioners to help strengthen efforts in pursuit of gender justice for core international crimes. This discussion was one of seven regional events, following roundtables in Beirut and Bangkok in 2023, and with events in Nairobi, Panama, The Hague and Geneva to follow in 2024, bringing together experts from each region to provide feedback on the GJP Hub initiative responding to the challenges faced in different contexts.
• Bangkok: On 22 November 2023, LAW chaired the Asia Pacific GJP Hub Roundtable in Bangkok, the second of six regional events to gather feedback and input on the GJP Hub initiative. Australian Assistant Secretary and Principal Specialist Gender Equality, Sarah Goulding, opened the roundtable and highlighted the critical nature of the conversation to bring together gender equality and the women, peace and security agenda. Participants working on a variety of contexts across the Asia Pacific region, including Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand and Sri Lanka, underscored a range of challenges for those working towards gender justice throughout the Asia-Pacific region –and provided ideas and thinking about how a GJP Hub could support their work.
• Beirut: On 1 June 2023, LAW facilitated a roundtable in Beirut, Lebanon, the Hub initiative. 34 practitioners, including representatives of civil society, academics and survivor groups, and representatives from the UN based across the Middle East and North Africa (including Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Libya) attended the discussion. Participants were resoundingly in favour of the initiative. There was recognition that, despite operating in a range of different contexts across the MENA region, many of the obstacles faced were the same and that collaboration and coordination were key to addressing these challenges. Participants underscored the need for a ‘safe space’ for practitioners regularly working for gender justice to come together, discuss common issues and to receive advice from experts and from each other.  Throughout the roundtable, participants emphasised that the Hub must bridge the global and the regional. Legal Action Worldwide’s Executive Director, Antonia Mulvey, who facilitated the roundtable said: “This was the perfect location to kick-off this discussion! The participants have set out a clear need for an initiative like the Hub to support those working on the front-lines and have provided a clear direction forward.”