It´s been a while since the first time we wrote here. The main reason, for me at least, is that I´ve considered whether or not to post the articles I´ve written. Now, as we´re in Granada, Nicaragua, we´re having a great opportunity to examine the past and present of Nicaraguan politics via interviews and, of course, reading. We´ve come to the conclusion that it´s not smart to publish our articles here, because that might reduce our possibility to get them published in newspapers, magazines and other forums. We will, however, elaborate the issues we´re dealing with and possibly post our drafts to our blog. We are also more than willing to consider your suggestions about topics you regard as worth examining or forums to which we could sell or give our stories.
We will hopefully soon, probably next weekend or the one after that, meet representatives of MRS (Movimiento Renovación Sandinista or Sandinista Renovation Movement), FSNL and/or contras.
I also managed to find, thanks completely to the help of our contacts, very good sources about Nicaraguan politics, en inglés también. Although we had some time before this trip to study the history and current issues in Central America, we still feel we´re running out of time. You can´t learn and internalize but a certain amount of things in any given time.
We decided that Meeri will write about what we´ve done. If you don´t know Finnish then start learning.
I hope everyone there is doing fine, too. Looking forward to hearing from you, comrades.
All the best,
Bruno.
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Gender Equality Projects
Greater law and order makes Nicaragua society more egalitarian
Greater law and order makes Nicaragua society more egalitarian
Some 650 local legal advisors are working in the Nicaraguan countryside and in its most inaccessible areas to help improve the legal rights of people living in these, the poorest parts of the country. The advisors, called Judicial Facilitators, are the villagers' only link to the legal system and the courts. Although many local conflicts are about ownership rights, family issues and violence against women and children are also common
Soledad Marisol Herrera, police officer in Nicaragua [Photographer: Kina Robberts]
In being able to resolve minor conflicts where they occur, poor people can save both time and money; and with a raised legal awareness comes greater opportunities for equality.
Greater law and order and equality in Nicaragua
"Previously, most people believed that the man had sole right to decide over his family and that no one else should interfere in what was seen as his business," says Melba Estrada Guillen, one of the local legal advisors supported by Sida to improve legal rights in Nicaragua and thus help raise the status of women and reduce poverty. "But we now have laws showing that women and men have equal rights. Our role as local legal advisors is to make sure that the laws also work in practice."
The "Rural Judicial Facilitators Programme" has been designed to improve poor people's access to justice and impartiality in their dealings with the local authorities, the local police and courts, and other institutions. The 650 local legal advisors, or judicial facilitators, are women and men with prominent positions in their villages. They work in the very poorest parts of Nicaragua with the expert support of local judges, and together they help 680 villages, with a total population of 35,000.
A vital link to the legal system
The facilitators' role is to resolve local conflicts within and between families. Their most important functions, however, are to serve as the villagers' link to the legal system and to represent the courts. They handle the lawsuit procedures and help to raise people's awareness of the law by informing them about important legislation, such as that relating to men's responsibilities as parents and providers, violence and ownership rights.
Since the programme started five years ago, over 13,000 cases have been mediated involving over 40,000 people. Today, the judicial facilitators are a formal part of the legal system, their function having become institutionalised when the Nicaraguan government passed a resolution on a new legal code. The programme receives financial support from the Supreme Court and several local authorities.
Easier to obtain child maintenance
Outside Melba Estrada Guillen's house, her horse stands harnessed. Here, up in the mountains of northern Nicaragua, horses or donkeys are often the only way to reach isolated villages. It can take a whole day to reach the nearest police station or local authority.
"Our being here means that poor people can save both time and money, compared with if they had to make their own way to the nearest police station or court," says Melba.
Many of the cases the facilitators mediate concern grudges between neighbours over relatively petty issues. More serious matters include violence against women and children, which often leads to a situation where the woman is forced to flee with the children or the man simply abandons the family. Many men also refuse to acknowledge their fatherhood.
Beforehand, women who went though such distress had almost no legal protection; however, a law was introduced a while back stating that the man has a maintenance obligation towards his children. There are also specially trained police officers available to support battered women and child abuse victims.
Promises, not conflicts
"When a conflict arises, one of the parties involved usually approaches me," says Melba. "I seek out the other and we meet, in private, in my house. We talk and draw up an agreement on which both parties specify what they have promised. If it's a maintenance case, we go through how much the father is able to pay each month. If he still doesn't pay, I help to bring the case in front of the Family Court."
The fact that many of the judicial facilitators are women is not a particular concern to Melba since it helps to improve women's situation in their communities.
"I've never had a problem talking to the men" says Melba. "All of the cases I've mediated this year have gone well. I've never felt frightened or threatened."
kopioin (google: nicaragua society) netistä, Pyppe
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