Applying a Project Management Strategy to Rule of Law Programs: Recommendations for Myanmar Based on Lessons Learned From Afghanistan

Abstract

Since 2003, the US government and international partners have worked to develop the rule of law in Afghanistan. This effort has focused on areas such as the judicial system, corrections system, informal justice system, legislative reform, legal education and anticorruption efforts. In a report issued by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, RoL programs funded by the US have been impaired by four significant factors: a lack a comprehensive RoL strategy; an inability to account for the total amount of funds spent to support RoL development; problems measuring the performance of RoL programs; and significant challenges due to pervasive corruption. Since 2011, with its rapid democratic transition and removal of international sanctions, Myanmar has experienced a significant increase in multi-year RoL projects funded by international donors, such as the US government, UN and EU. However, many of the objectives of these programs, such as improved access to justice, protection of human rights, justice sector reform, empowering civil society to participate in the formal justice system and combating corruption, face challenges. In a previous conference paper, the authors discussed ways to encourage the RoL profession to implement a project management model to more effectively implement future projects. The paper proposed the creation of an inter-agency Project Management Office tasked with providing proper training, management assistance, templates and monitoring and evaluation for international RoL projects. The purpose of this paper is to apply this framework, along with lessons learned from Afghanistan, to propose recommendations to achieve RoL program outcomes in Myanmar.



Author Information
Jason Briggs, Webster University, USA
Moin Khan, PAE, USA

Paper Information
Conference: ACAH2016
Stream: Humanities - Other Humanities

This paper is part of the ACAH2016 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon